16-year-old held in Singapore for planning to attack mosques on Christchurch attack anniversary

Reuters

Singapore - The teen was detained in December, and was the youngest terror suspect to be held under the country’s Internal Security Act.

By AP

Published: Wed 27 Jan 2021, 4:29 PM

Last updated: Thu 28 Jan 2021, 7:21 AM

Authorities in Singapore said Wednesday that they had detained without trial a 16-year-old student who made detailed plans and preparations to launch “terrorist attacks” on two mosques with a machete.

The Internal Security Department said the Singaporean teen was inspired by an Australian gunman who killed 51 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.

The teen was detained in December, and was the youngest terror suspect to be held under the country’s Internal Security Act, it added.

The department said its investigation had found that the boy was working alone and had planned to strike two mosques near his home on March 15, the second anniversary of the Christchurch attack.

Just like the gunman in that attack, he planned to live-stream his act by strapping mobile phones to a vest, the statement said. It said he also prepared two statements to be distributed just before the attack.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K.Shanmugam was quoted by local media as saying that authorities do not intend to charge the teen as he was underage and hadn’t carried out the act. But he said it was worrying as it marked the first case of extremists targeting Muslims in the Southeast Asian nation.

Authorities said the teen will undergo a rehabilitation process involving religious, psychological and social counselling.

Giving further details, the department statement said the teen had explored various options including obtaining a firearm online, building a bomb and using gasoline to douse the mosques. He later decided to use a machete and had studied how to slash the main arteries of his victims.

One of the statement he prepared referred to his planned attacks as a “massacre,” an “act of vengeance” and a “call for war” against Islam, authorities said.

The department said the teen was ready to die during the attack.

The department said that the teen’s family and others close to him had no idea about his plans.