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Two arrested in Sydney counter-terrorism raids linked to alleged attack on naval base | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Two men will be charged with terrorism offences following raids in the Sydney suburbs of Bankstown and Merrylands as part of Operation Appleby, allegedly linked to a plot to possibly attack government buildings in Sydney, including the Australian federal police headquarters and a navy base in the city’s east. | |
One of the men, 20-year-old Mohammad Almaouie from Bankstown, was targeted in raids earlier this month after which five men were charged with conspiring to prepare to commit a terrorist act. | |
He is expected to be charged with the same offence, New South Wales police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn said on Wednesday. | |
She said the alleged plot did not relate to “a specific act, a specific activity”. “What we will be saying is there was a group of people who came together with the idea, with the intent to do something and they started to make preparations to carry out a terrorist act,” she said. | |
“We think we disrupted what may have eventuated into something becoming more specific.” | |
The charges are based on handwritten documents seized from a Wiley Park home in December 2014 which mentioned locations including the AFP headquarters, NSW police stations and a Navy base in Woolloomooloo. | |
The second man arrested is understood to be a 24-year-old whose home in Merrylands has also been repeatedly raided by police. | The second man arrested is understood to be a 24-year-old whose home in Merrylands has also been repeatedly raided by police. |
He has been charged with making a document likely to facilitate a terrorist act. | |
The other men charged with the conspiracy offence earlier this month are Sulayman Khalid, 21, Ibrahim Ghazzawy, 20, and Maywand Osman, 22. A 15-year-old from George’s Hall was also charged but cannot be named for legal reasons. | |
A total of 13 people have been charged as part of Operation Appleby, which commenced in May 2014. |