Singapore deports 26 radicalised Bangladeshi workers

Singapore has this week deported 26 Bangladeshi nationals who were arrested between 16 November and 1 December 2015 while working in the city-state. One further man remains in custody and will be deported on his release. All have been arrested on their arrival in Bangladesh. Reports suggest that the group's members worked in the construction industry, and met through work. They subsequently set up a religious study group, which subscribed to the extremist beliefs of figures like Anwar al-Awlaki, the American and Yemeni imam and Islamic lecturer who became an al-Qaida leader in Yemen. The group supported al-Qaida and ISIS, and the authorities believe that they were planning to launch attacks. The Singaporean authorities have said that these attacks were to be aimed not at Singapore, but instead primarily at Bangladesh. Singapore is taking a hard line on extremism, and is keen to prevent any act of terrorism on its soil. The Bangladeshi authorities have taken a similarly hard line on extremism, but this case, along with a number of others in the country, particularly attacks on foreigners and secular bloggers, underline the growing radicalisation of some elements of its population.

SINGAPORE - Twenty-seven radicalised Bangladesh nationals who were working in Singapore were arrested between Nov 16 and Dec 1 last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Wednesday (Jan 20).

Here's what you need to know in eight points.

1. They were part of a religious study group

Twenty-six of the men were part of a closed religious study group that "subscribed to extremist beliefs and teachings of radical ideologues like Anwar al-Awlaki", the MHA said.