Why are they in Australia at all?
‘Close-knit group’ of extremist Muslim men considered capable of a terrorist attack in Australia ‘attempted to recruit a 14-year-old boy to take part in a deadly plot’
- Group of 12 men and boys are being watched by Australia Federal Police
- The group of extremists attempted to recruit a 14-year-old boy for attack
- Police say they are capable of carrying out a terrorist attack in Australia
- Men are part of a wider group of 19, including some who are already in jail
- Authorities are investigating how young boys are becoming radicalised
- It comes after Farhad Jabar, 15, shot dead police worker Curtis Cheng
Twelve men and boys living in Australia are being watched closely by authorities because they are capable of committing an act of terror as police investigate how Parramatta shooter Farhad Jabar, 15, became radicalised
A group of men and boys living in Australia are being watched closely by authorities because they are capable of committing an act of terror reportedly attempted to recruit a 14-year-old boy.
Photos of the young boy posing with guns were found when police raided his home earlier this year, according to the ABC.
The 12 men who attempted to recruit the boy are part of a wider group of 19 people, including some who are already in jail, and are being monitored by anti-terrorism police, according to Australian Federal Police’s counter-terrorism chief, Neil Gaughan.
‘I think there can be no doubt that there’s a small group in Sydney that are engaged in activity which wants to upset the Australian way of life,’ Assistant Commissioner Gaughan told ABC’s Four Corners.
Since police carried out its largest counter-terrorism raids in September last year under Operation Appleby, more than 30 people have faced court on terrorism-related charges.
‘The first series of Appleby raids saw one person arrested with a large number of police involved,’ Gaughan said.
‘Since that time, 10 of those persons involved in the raids are currently in custody or before the court and we’ve laid in excess of 30 charges.’
Police have given some of those being watched ‘control orders’ because of the high risk of them carrying out a terrorist attack.
Among those with a interim control order is 20-year-old Ahmad Saiyer Naizmand who tried to flee Australia with his brother’s passport last year but was detected by police.
The order prohibits him from associating with 18 other men and boys, including two men – Talal Alameddine and Raban Alou – charged over the fatal shooting of police worker Curtis Cheng in Parramatta in Sydney’s west last month, which was carried out by 15-year-old Farhad Jabar.
Police are looking at how the teenager, who was shot dead in a police shoot out, could have been radicalised to carry out the terrorist attack.
Read more: h/t: Buck
