Planned attack leads to raids in Australia
Police detain 15 after warning of ISIS hit
SYDNEY – Counterterrorism raids in Sydney today were sparked by security intelligence that the Islamic State movement was planning a public killing as a demonstration of its reach, the prime minister said.
Australian police detained 15 people today in a major counterterrorism operation, saying intelligence indicated a random, violent attack was being planned on Australian soil.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott saied he had been briefed Wednesday night about the operation, which had been prompted by information that an Islamic State leader in the Middle East was calling on Australian supporters to kill.
“Quite direct exhortations were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country,” Abbott told reporters, referring to the al-Qaida splinter group leading Sunni militants in Iraq.
“This is not just suspicion, this is intent and that’s why the police and security agencies decided to act in the way they have,” he added.
He did not name the Australian.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for a former Sydney nightclub bouncer Mohammad Ali Baryalei, 33, who is suspected to be Australia’s most senior member of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
About 800 federal and state police officers raided more than a dozen properties across Sydney as part of the operation – the largest in Australian history, said Andrew Colvin, Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner. Separate raids in the eastern cities of Brisbane and Logan also were conducted.
One of those arrested, Omarjan Azari, appeared briefly in a Sydney court today.
Prosecutor Michael Allnutt said he was involved in a “plan to commit extremely serious offenses” that was “clearly designed to shock and horrify” the public.
Azari is charged with conspiracy to prepare for a terrorist attack. The potential penalty was not immediately clear.
The arrests come just days after the country raised its terror warning to the second-highest level in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State group.