A TEENAGER was detained in December after he made plans to take part in armed violence in Singapore and abroad in support of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis) group.
Muhammad Irfan Danyal Mohamad Nor (pic), 18, had plans to stab and kill non-believers in dark alleys here, carry out a mass casualty attack at Amoy Quee Camp by recruiting a suicide car bomber and construct a C4 explosive device to bomb a grave site at Haji Muhammad Salleh Mosque in Tanjong Pagar.
He also sought to declare Coney Island an Isis wilayat (province) so that it would be recognised by Isis as its official affiliate.He was arrested by the Internal Security Department (ISD) days before he planned to take the bai’ah (pledge of allegiance) to then Isis leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Quraishi on Nov 12.ISD said on Wednesday that Irfan is believed to have acted alone. His family members were not aware of his attack plans.
He began getting radicalised in 2020 after coming across YouTube videos by foreign preacher Zakir Naik.
Irfan then watched videos of other foreign extremist preachers, joined online discussions and was exposed to Isis propaganda.
By October 2022, he wanted to travel to Nigeria to participate in armed violence with the IS in West Africa Province.
Irfan said he was prepared to die fighting on the battlefield, believing that he would achieve martyrdom that way.
He also saw Iraq, Syria or Marawi in the southern Philippines as alternative destinations for armed violence and did online searches for flights from Singapore to these locations.
In the meantime, he planned to demonstrate his support for Isis by filming a video of himself taking the ba’iah on Coney Island.
He understood the bai’ah to mean that he would have to comply with instructions from Isis, including conducting attacks in Singapore.
This led him planning the three attacks in Singapore.
Irfan bought a knife in August 2022 and planned to stab and kill people he regarded as “disbelievers” by ambushing them in dark alleys and taking their belongings as “war spoils”. — The Straits Times/ANN
