Self-radicalised individuals make up 9 in 10 terror cases here

Self-radicalised individuals remain the primary terrorism threat in Singapore, making up nearly nine in 10 cases dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for terrorism-related activities since 2019.

Of the 16 people issued with an order of detention or restriction order from January 2019, 14 were self-radicalised, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) in a report yesterday.

It said that 10 of the 14 were Singaporeans and four were foreigners. Of the Singaporeans, eight were detained and two were placed on restriction orders. The four foreigners, comprising three Indonesians and one Bangladeshi who worked here, were all detained.

The remaining two are Singaporeans. Sheik Heikel Khalid Bafana was detained in March 2019 after being involved in the civil war in Yemen and working for a foreign power as a paid agent while in Yemen.

Rasidah Mazlan was issued a restriction order that same month for contacting foreign entities suspected of involvement in terrorism-related activities.

The large threat posed by self-radicalised individuals is a trend the ISD has observed since 2015. It said in the third edition of the Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report that 44 out of 54 people dealt with under the ISA were self-radicalised. They comprise 32 Singaporeans and 12 foreigners.

Of the 14 self-radicalised people dealt with since 2019, 12 were supporters of terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or were inspired by the Syrian conflict. Most of them continued to support ISIS even after it lost territories.

One such case was Kuthubdeen Haja Najumudeen. Detained in May 2019, he was a follower of a pro-ISIS Sri Lankan preacher who masterminded the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka in April 2019.

The ISD found that Haja did extensive research on migrating to Syria to join ISIS. While he decided against travelling there as he feared he would be killed or injured, his support for the group continued.

"It is evident that the group's territorial and leadership losses have not diminished its appeal to those radicalised by its violent, apocalyptic narratives," said the ISD.

Aside from the threat of Islamist terrorism, ISD also flagged the risk posed by far-right extremism.

It cited a 16-year-old Singaporean student detained under the ISA last December for plotting to attack Muslims at two mosques. He is the first detainee here who had been influenced by far-right extremism.

While there is no indication of such radical ideology gaining significant traction here, this does not mean Singapore is immune to such threats, the ISD said.

In February, full-time national serviceman Amirull Ali, 20, was detained for planning to use a knife to attack Jews leaving a synagogue.

In both these cases of self-radicalised lone actors, the ISD said easily obtainable weapons were involved in planned attacks on vulnerable targets. It said this reflects a recent wider trend where easily available means, like knives and vehicles, have been used for terrorist attacks.

The ISD said none of the radicalised foreigners discovered here had plans to conduct attacks in Singapore, but their association with terrorists overseas made them a security threat.

Since 2015, more than 40 Bangladeshi workers have been found to be radicalised here. All but one have been sent home.

Twenty-one foreign domestic workers were found to have been radicalised as well. Three of them, all ISIS supporters, were detained in September 2019 and convicted of terrorism financing offences. Two were repatriated after their prison terms, and one is still in jail. The other 18 were sent home after investigations were completed.

Six radicalised Malaysians have been repatriated since 2018.

On terrorism financing here, the ISD said that since 2016, two local residents and nine foreigners have been prosecuted for such offences. It said that Singapore takes a firm stance against such activities.

Nanyang Technological University professor of security studies Rohan Gunaratna said the terrorist threat in Singapore has increased due to terrorist and extremist groups stepping up activity online.

"There is no active terrorist group on Singapore soil. However, sympathisers and supporters of these groups go online and (propagate) radical and violent content, radicalising one another. Self-radicalisation is the apex terrorist threat currently facing Singapore," he said.