Singapore, Feb 21 (PTI) Singapore authorities have detained two self-radicalised teen supporters of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, including a 15-year-old, the youngest to be dealt with under the Internal Security Act, it was announced on Tuesday.

The 15-year-old boy, detained in November 2022, had considered conducting attacks in Singapore, using a knife to behead non-Muslims in popular tourist areas, and had also thought about being a suicide bomber, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said.

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He was willing to "support any group seeking to establish an Islamic caliphate in Singapore or abroad, including ... participating in armed jihad and ... viewed dying as a martyr to be the responsibility of all Muslims", Channel News Asia quoted the ISD as saying.

The youth also expressed support for Al-Qaeda, as he idolised the militant group's late founder Osama bin Laden and viewed him as "a defender of Islam".

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The teen also considered travelling to Afghanistan, expressed support for Islamic State, and regarded the militant group's killing of Shia Muslims and Yazidis as being “justified", ISD said.

According to the ISD, he would undergo intensive religious counselling to address the religious misconceptions that led to his support for armed violence and terrorist groups. The teen, still a student, has been provided with his school's curriculum and study materials to ensure he can continue his studies while in detention.

A 16-year-old boy, who first came to the attention of the authorities in November 2020 when he was just 14 years old, was issued a restriction order in January, the ISD said.

An ISD investigation in 2020 found the teen's interest in far-right extremist content, including anti-Semitic and supportive of neo-Nazi groups whose ideologies promoted a “race war”. He was assessed to be vulnerable to radicalisation.

The ISD warned him to steer clear of extremist content online but to no avail. The youth continued to view Islamic State (IS) materials and discussed the group with other social media.

The boy even joined multiple IS-themed servers on the online gaming platform Roblox, which replicated physical IS conflict zone games.

He acted as the “spokesperson” and “chief propagandist” for his in-game Islamic State faction and said that acts, such as shooting and killing of “enemies” in the game, were meant to mimic his desire to be a real-life member, the ISD added.

To demonstrate his support for the Islamic State, he created and uploaded three propaganda videos onto social media between late 2021 and early 2022.

The teen will also undergo religious counselling and participate in programmes conducted by the Religious Rehabilitation Group's Resource and Counselling Centre to "deepen his appreciation of Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious context", the ISD said.

The school authorities will strictly monitor his behaviour and progress in school.

An 18-year-old IS supporter was also detained by authorities last month, revealing a concerning trend of the radicalisation of youth in the city-state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)