Advertisement
Singapore boy influenced by Christchurch gunman made ‘detailed plans’ to attack mosques
- The 16-year-old student intended to strike two mosques on March 15, exactly two years after the extremist Brenton Tarrant shot dozens of Muslims in New Zealand
- He is the first person to be detained after being inspired by far-right extremist ideology, Singapore’s Internal Security Department says
Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A teenager in Singapore was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in December last year after he was found to have made “detailed plans” and preparations to attack Muslims at two mosques with a machete.
Advertisement
The secondary school student, the youngest person to be detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities, hatched a plan to attack the Assyafaah Mosque and Yusof Ishak Mosque in the northern suburb of Woodlands, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Wednesday.
The boy is a Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity and is believed to have acted alone. He was not named by the ISD because of his age.
The self-radicalised student intended to strike the mosques on March 15, exactly two years after far-right extremist Brenton Tarrant live-streamed the massacre of more than 50 Muslims at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The boy was influenced by the Australian-born gunman, who had released a manifesto before the mass shooting, the ISD said. The boy’s plan involved live-streaming his acts, just like Tarrant did.
Advertisement