New video of Singaporean IS militant killing man jolts republic

Screen grab showing Singaporean Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad in the latest IS executions video featuring executioners believed from Southeast Asian nations.

PETALING JAYA: A new propaganda video featuring a Singaporean Islamic State (IS) militant participating in the cold blooded killing of other men has sparked renewed concerns of the threat of religious extremism in the island republic.

The more than eight-minute long clip featuring Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad, 39, has been shared on social media and messaging groups, the Straits Times (ST) reported yesterday.

It shows a graphic scene of Shahdan and two men dressed in military fatigue executing three others by shooting them, together with footage of bombings and vehicle attacks.

Shahdan is seen at the end speaking in English, encouraging followers to strengthen themselves and “slay the enemies of Allah wherever you can find them”, before he shoots a kneeling man, the report said.

In September, Shahdan was seen in another clip calling himself “Abu ‘Uqayl from Singapore” and challenging Britain’s Prince Harry who had in June visited Singapore where he had broken fast with local Muslims as it was the month of Ramadhan.

“Prince Harry, you come to Singapore and tell sad stories to gain sympathy about London terror,” he had said.

“Why don’t you come here and fight us if you are man enough so that we can send you and your Apaches (helicopters) to hellfire?”

The ST report said Shahdan was a secret society member in Singapore with a string of drug and criminal convictions before he left to work in the Middle East in 2014 where he was believed to have been radicalised. He later made his way to Syria to join IS.

Shahdan had in the first video also called for people to join the IS in East Asia, or to fight with IS fighters in other regions like Libya, Yemen and western Africa.

According to Kumar Ramakrishna, head of policy studies and coordinator of the national security studies programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, the latest video drove home in a strong way the dangers of being indoctrinated with extremist ideology.

“Singaporeans may think we are educated, but even people in our particular day and age, given exposure to extremist ideology, can be influenced to such an extent… where they can so dehumanise other people not seen to be part of their circle that they can just murder them in cold blood,” he was quoted as saying by ST.

“It shows why extremist ideology is so dangerous and has to continue to be countered,” he added.

Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore said it was specifically timed to incite attacks at New Year celebrations.

“At a time when ISIS is shrinking in its battle space in Iraq and Syria, it is sending a message that it is still capable of mounting attacks and terrorising the public,” he was quoted as saying.

“With its core depleting and global expansion, ISIS will focus on propaganda in the coming months and years.” -FMT