A Sixteen-year-old Singaporean boy was detained in December under Singapore’s Internal Security Act (ISA) after planning to use a machete to attack Muslims at two mosques in the Woodlands area in March, on the anniversary of New Zealand's Christchurch attacks.
The teenager (name not revealed) is a Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity. He is the youngest person to be dealt with under the ISA for terrorism-related activities, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said in a media release on Wednesday,(January 27.
The Internal Security Department stated that the teen was influenced by the 2019 terror attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in which 51 people were killed. The teen had planned to carry out his attacks on March 15 this year, on the anniversary of the Christchurch attacks.
“He was self-radicalized, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence,” the ISD said.
He watched the live stream video of the terrorist attack on the two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, and read the manifesto of the attacker, Brenton Tarrant, a white supremacist, it said. The ISD said it was “clear” from the teen’s attack plans and preparation that he was influenced by Tarrant’s actions and manifesto.
He chose Assyafaah Mosque and Yusof Ishak Mosque as his targets because they were near his home, ISD said, adding that he conducted online reconnaissance and research using Google Maps and Street View on both mosques to prepare for the attacks.
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