SYDNEY // Police said they thwarted a plot to carry out beheadings in Australia by ISIL supporters by arresting 15 people and raiding more than a dozen properties across Sydney yesterday.
The raids involving 800 federal and state police officers – the largest in the country’s history – came in response to intelligence that an ISIL leader in the Middle East was calling on Australian supporters to kill, Tony Abbott, the prime minister, said.
There were reports that the detainees were planning to behead a random person in Sydney.
“That’s the intelligence we received,” Mr Abbott said. “The exhortations – 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.”
The raids came just days after the country raised its terrorism threat to the second-highest level in response to the domestic threat posed by ISIL supporters.
The attorney general George Brandis confirmed that a person born in Afghanistan who had spent time in Australia and is now working with ISIL ordered supporters in Australia to behead people and videotape the executions.
“If the ... police had not acted today, there is a likelihood that this would have happened,” Mr Brandis said.
Mr Abbott and Mr Brandis did not name the Australian. But Mohammad Ali Baryalei, who is believed to be Australia’s most senior member of ISIL, was named as a co-conspirator in court documents filed yesterday.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for the 33-year-old former Sydney nightclub bouncer.
One of those detained, Omarjan Azari, 22, of Sydney, appeared briefly in a Sydney court yesterday.
Prosecutor Michael Allnutt said Mr Azari was involved in a plan to “gruesomely” kill a randomly selected person – something that was “clearly designed to shock and horrify” the public. That plan involved an “unusual level of fanaticism”.
Mr Azari is charged with conspiracy to prepare for a terrorist attack. The potential penalty was not immediately clear.
In court documents, Mr Azari was accused of conspiring with Baryalei and others between May and September to prepare for a terrorist attack. Allnutt said the charge stemmed from the interception of a phone call a couple days ago.
Mr Azari did not apply for bail and did not enter a plea. His next court appearance was set for November 13.
Police declined to reveal exact details of the attack they believe was being plotted. New South Wales police commissioner Andrew Scipione said only that it was to be carried out against a member of the public on the street and was at “a very high level”.
“Right now is a time for calm,” Mr Scipione said. “We need to let people know that they are safe, and certainly from our perspective, we know that the work this morning will ensure that all of those plans that may have been on foot have been thwarted.”
Separate raids were conducted yesterday in Brisbane and Logan. Last week, Australian police arrested two men in Brisbane for allegedly preparing to fight in Syria, recruiting militants and raising money for Al Qaeda’s Syria offshoot Jabhat Al Nusra.
Australia has estimated about 60 of its citizens are fighting for ISIL and Al Nusra in Iraq and Syria. Another 15 Australian fighters had been killed, including two young suicide bombers.
The government has said it believes about 100 Australians are actively supporting extremist groups from within Australia, recruiting fighters and grooming suicide bomber candidates as well as providing funds and equipment.
A Sydney money transfer business owned by the sister and brother-in-law of convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, an ISIL fighter, had its licence suspended this week on suspicion it had been sending 1 million Australian dollars (Dh3.3 million) a month to the Middle East to finance terrorism, said John Schimdt, chief executive of the industry regulator and corruption watchdog AUSTRAC.
* Associated Press
