A Singaporean ISIS militant, identifying himself as Abu Uqayl, is now challenging Prince Harry to come and fight the terror group in response to the British royal's remarks about the Manchester Arena attack in London.
"Why don't you come here and fight us if you're man enough so that we can send you and your Apaches to hellfire?" said the ISIS militant in a newly released video.
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said they suspect the man in the video is Meghat Shahdan bin Abdul Samad, 39, who fled the country to join the Islamic State in Syria after becoming radicalized while working in the Middle East in 2014.
The Singaporean MHA also noted that Meghat Shahdan has been reportedly involved in a string of criminal and drug-related offenses, including having two burglary convictions in 1999 and 2002. According to experts, choosing to feature Shahdan was a premeditated and well-thought-out action by the Islamic militant group.
Seeming to be primarily a recruitment effort, the video is believed to be part of a series of videos titled 'Inside the Caliphate' that's been produced by the Al Hayat Media Centre, ISIL's propaganda arm. Meghat Shahdan's role in the video shows a shift in the terror group's efforts to entice Southeast Asian Muslims to join the Caliphate.
Speaking with Associate Professor Bilveer Singh of the National University of Singapore, the Strait Times found that more ISIS fighters are coming to prominence in the terror organization within Indonesia's Bahrumsyah, the country's ISIS analog.
"He was not chosen by accident. He's from South-East Asia, from a country where Muslims are in the minority, and which has been publicly targeted for attack," said Singh, who added that the video sought to "inspire and motivate" the English-speaking Muslims in the region.
Recent losses in the Middle East including the liberation of Mosul, have the terror group looking elsewhere to fill their ranks, especially in the powder kegs of the Philippines' Marawi City and Myanmar's Rakhine state.
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