The arrest of a Singaporean travelling overseas to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) shows the Government’s unambiguous stance against its citizens engaging in armed conflicts, security experts said yesterday.

Ms Susan Sim, vice-president for Asia at New York-based The Soufan Group, a strategic security consultancy, said: “If you are not a soldier obeying lawful orders, then the Singapore Government’s stance is clear – you cannot take up arms on behalf of any group, for any cause.

“If an exception is made for any one cause, then where does it stop? Who is to say one cause is more righteous than another?”

… The bid to join the Kurds could have been his way of avoiding his financial issues, said senior analyst Jasminder Singh of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

“He does not fit the profile of a mercenary. This could be just a form of adventure,” he added.