South-east Asia faces a new wave of leaderless youth extremism with no clear ideology, Singapore ISD warns

In October 2025, Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit Densus 88 linked 70 young people across 18 provinces to online violent subcultures, with 20 preparing attacks on schools using replica firearms, knives, and bows — none of whom had a clear political or religious ideology. Singapore's Internal Security Department, in its terrorism threat assessment released on 10 September 2026, warned of an increasingly diverse extremist landscape in which young people are exposed to ISIS propaganda, far-right extremism, mass-shooter culture, and nihilistic violent extremism simultaneously. Experts told The Straits Times that these leaderless pathways are testing counter-terrorism systems designed for ideological organisations like Jemaah Islamiyah, placing parents, schools, and mental health professionals at the front line of prevention.