More than 400 police officers across Sydney took part in raids following last week's stabbing of an Assyrian bishop.
Australian police have launched a series of “counter-terrorism raids” and arrested seven teenagers after last week's stabbing of an Assyrian Orthodox bishop.
Police said on Wednesday the suspect was believed to pose an immediate threat and more than 400 officers executed 13 search warrants overnight at properties across Sydney. Intelligence officials have warned that counter-terrorism cases are increasingly focused on minors who are “vulnerable to radicalization”.
Officials said the seven detainees, aged between 15 and 17, were linked to a network in which a 16-year-old member was allegedly involved in the recent attack on a bishop during a live-streamed sermon at a church in Sydney's west. It is said that they were related. They added that the attack was spurred by concerns that the network was planning further attacks and posed an “unacceptable risk” to the public.
The other five teenagers are also members of federal and state police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), the country's main spy agency, and the New South Wales Crime Commission, which specializes in counter-terrorism and counter-terrorism. He is being interrogated by the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team. organized crime.
“We contend these individuals espoused a religiously motivated violent extremist ideology,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said.
“This group … was considered to pose an unacceptable risk and threat to the people of New South Wales,” he said, adding that an investigation had led authorities to believe an attack was “likely”. .
'vulnerable'
Police were quick to describe last week's stabbing of a bishop as an act of “terrorism” and say it was fueled by “religiously motivated extremism.”
The suspect in last week's knife attack that injured a bishop and another priest was charged Friday with committing an act of terrorism.
The attack left the local community in turmoil, and western Sydney has been on edge ever since.
Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Chrissy Barrett said investigators had found no evidence that the network had a specific target or the potential timing of the intended “acts of violence”. .
She said the police operation was not linked to Anzac Day, scheduled for Thursday. The holiday, when Australians commemorate war dead, has been a “target for extremists” in the past.
ASIO director general Mike Burgess confirmed his organization was involved in Wednesday's operation.
Mr Burgess said: “Australia's security services are constantly working to provide security information to enable police to respond to these matters in the event of an imminent threat to life or other ongoing threats.”
A few years ago, investigations of minors accounted for 50% of ASIO's counter-terrorism priority cases. After a setback, the number of minors being investigated is on the rise again for reasons including social media content, Burgess said.
“They are a vulnerable population,” he warned.
