SINGAPORE: Another two Singaporean teens who were self-radicalised have been caught under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

One of them is a 15-year-old girl. An Islamic State supporter, she is the first female youth and second-youngest to be dealt with under the ISA, with a restriction order imposed.

The other is a 17-year-old who has been detained. He was identified as an online contact of 18-year-old Nick Lee Xing Qiu, who was detained last December after being radicalised by violent far-right extremist ideologies.

Similar to Lee, he identified as an “East Asian Supremacist” and planned to attack several mosques in Singapore, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said on Wednesday (Apr 2).

Singaporeans need to be alert to such cases of extremism and radicalisation, said Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam, noting that ISD has intervened successfully so far.

“But as I keep saying, we have to get it right every time,” he told reporters on Wednesday at Masjid Maarof, where the 17-year-old detainee had planned to carry out attacks.

“Those who are either on the far-right, or with tendencies towards extremism on the Islamic side, have to only get it right once and they will kill some people. So we need to be very careful.”

ISLAMIC STATE SUPPORTER

The 15-year-old girl aspired to support the cause by marrying an Islamic State fighter in Syria, hoped to start a pro-Islamic State family and raise sons who would become fighters, said ISD.

She frequently posted propaganda on social media and was in at least eight short-term romantic online relationships with overseas-based Islamic State supporters between July 2023 and December 2024, including an alleged fighter based in Syria.

The girl first encountered Islamic State propaganda online in June 2023, and within weeks, she became convinced that the group was a legitimate religious army defending Muslims in Iraq and Syria, said ISD.

After learning that it was necessary to take a pledge of allegiance before she could marry one of their fighters, she took a virtual pledge to an Islamic State chatbot in July 2023, pledging to former caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“She saw herself as an ISIS member thereafter,” ISD said in a media release, referring to the group’s other name, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Between September 2023 and April 2024, the girl searched for flights from Singapore to Syria three times and considered saving money to fund her travels.

She also intended to tap into her online network of Islamic State supporters for travel advice, ISD said.

ATTEMPTS TO RADICALISE OTHERS

While the girl’s priority was to marry an Islamic State fighter and raise a pro-Islamic State family, she was also willing to become a female fighter in Syria.

“Influenced by footage of female ISIS fighters online, she hoped to die a martyr,” said ISD, adding that the 15-year-old thought she could travel to Syria and receive weapons training there.

Her mother knew she was exposed to pro-Islamic State materials and had advised her against it.

“However, the youth’s mother did not think the youth’s behaviour warranted further intervention,” ISD said.

The 15-year-old also actively reposted extremist materials online, including Islamic State chants, to display her support, and shared related content with some of her schoolmates.

None of her schoolmates took the materials seriously, and no one reported the extremist materials to their teachers, ISD said.

Its investigations so far indicate that the girl acted alone and did not successfully radicalise her schoolmates.