In case you thought the threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has all but disappeared, you have another think coming.

In a release on Wednesday afternoon, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced it had last month detained a 33-year-old Singaporean who was radicalised and keen to take up arms to fight in support of ISIS.

Watched, got influenced by lectures from radical ideologues

IT engineer Ahmed Hussein Abdul Kadir s/o Sheik Uduman was, according to MHA, radicalised through lectures he watched online to expand his knowledge of Islam.

He had apparently followed various people who were previously arrested and/or imprisoned for inciting violence and supporting terrorism, including al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki, which led him to believe that violence in the name of religion was justified.

By late 2016, the ministry said, he became convinced that he should fight and die for ISIS as a martyr in Iraq and Syria.

He also allegedly kept regular contact with people overseas who supported ISIS in order to stay in touch with developments regarding the self-proclaimed caliphate. He apparently also tried to influence them to follow the violent teachings of the ideologues he had been watching.

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Housewife who was detained last year now released

Meanwhile, a 39-year-old woman who was kept in detention under the ISA in November last year has since been released.

Munavar Baig Amina Begam is a naturalised Singapore citizen from India, a housewife, and had supported ISIS. She was radicalised by a foreign online contact, who shared pro-ISIS materials with her and convinced her that ISIS was defending Sunni Muslims.

She was prepared to undergo military training to fight for ISIS in the Middle East, and intended to personally travel to the conflict zone. Meanwhile, she shared materials promoting terrorism on social media, encouraging others to fight and die as “martyrs”.

Amina was issued with a two-year Order of Detention in Nov. 2017, but was issued with a suspension direction (which means she cannot change jobs, move house or travel out of Singapore without the ISD's approval, among other things) in July this year after she was assessed to no longer pose "an imminent security threat".

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Top image: File