Sydney Police Bust Islamic State Terror Ring
Three men have been arrested in Sydney in connection with a terror plot targeting police stations, consulates and embassies, courts, and churches. The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce claim that at least two of the three had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
AFP assistant commissioner Ian McCartney said the ringleader of the group had been monitored since returning from Lebanon last year.
“We will allege this man had indicated he was willing to travel to Afghanistan to fight for Islamic State, and he made a number of preparations to do so,”
NSW Police assistant commissioner Mick Willing said the arrests represented the “16th disruption” since terror threat levels were raised in 2014.
“There are people out there who still want to commit acts of terror in this country, sadly, but we’re doing everything we can to prevent those acts of terrorism taking place and public safety is always our first priority,” he said.
Police executed six search warrants across suburbs in western Sydney this morning.
The raids took place across a number of suburbs including Greenacre, Green Valley, Canada Bay, Toongabbie, Chester Hill and Ingleburn, according to reports.
Three men, aged 20, 23 and 30 have been detained and are expected to be charged with terror related offences including acting in preparation for a terrorist act and engaging in preparations for incursions into foreign countries for the purposes of engaging in hostile activities.
