After setbacks, he tried to travel to Syria to fight — with his SAF uniform and boots
File photo of a SAF uniform.
SINGAPORE - Wang Yuandongyi first learnt about the plight of the Kurds in Syria last November, and became sympathetic after reading reports about how they were being attacked by the Islamic State militant group.
At the same time, the 23-year-old Singaporean wanted to escape a string of personal setbacks, including financial liabilities arising from a failed business venture.
After making online contact with a Kurdish militia group and several "like-minded" individuals, Wang made plans to travel to Turkey and Syria in January to join the fighting, the the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
Wang brought along some military gear from the Singapore Armed Forces, including his uniform and boots which he intended to use in the battlefield.
But someone reported him and Wang was located in an unnamed country and turned back to Singapore on the request of authorities here. He was arrested and placed on a restriction order from this month, the MHA said.
The other three men dealt with under the Internal Security Act were Mohammad Razif Yahya, 27, Amiruddin Sawir, 53, and Mohamed Mohideen Mohamed Jais, 25.
Razif and Amiruddin were detained for voluntarily taking up arms in the armed sectarian conflict in Yemen. They had studied at a religious institution there – Razif in 2010 and Amiruddin in 2013. Razif had volunteered for sniper training, which he put to use fighting the Houthis, said MHA. Amiruddin was also involved in a firefight with the Houthis.
They were ready to kill or be killed as “martyrs” in the conflict, and were detained last August, said the MHA, which did not reveal how the men’s actions were discovered or when they returned to Singapore. Mohideen, who was placed on a restriction order this month, had performed armed sentry duties in Yemen while doing religious studies there from 2009 to early 2011. He had a rifle assigned to him but did not need to open fire.
