Two teenagers were arrested for planning an 'ISIS inspired' attack on an Anzac Day ceremony following anti-terror raids in southeast Melbourne. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said the 18-year-old men were 'associates' of Abdul Numan Haider, who was gunned down after stabbing two officers outside a Melbourne police station on September 23. Both are still being questioned by police who plan to charge them with terror-related crimes and possessing prohibited items, including knives and swords, seized at some of the properties searched.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews called the plans "simply evil" on Saturday morning, while insisting that the individuals "do not represent any faith, culture or religion."
Australian Federal Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan said, "It is alleged both men were undertaking preparations for a terrorist attack at an Anzac Day activity in Melbourne which included targeting police officers."
Commissioner Patton later added that, "Some evidence that was collected at a couple of the scenes and some other information we have, leads us to believe that this particular matter was ISIS-inspired."
A total of five teens have been arrested as part of the Melbourne Joint Counter Terrorism Team operation named Operation Rising, which saw 200 officers' raid seven properties this morning. It is understood that police chose to execute the search warrants immediately because they "couldn't be sure that they [the arrested men] wouldn't act earlier."
A young man from Narre Warren was also arrested and charged with weapon offenses, while two other men from the same suburb are currently in custody assisting police with enquiries.
Patton confirmed that the arrested men were not related, but were "associates", and that some had attended the Al Furqan Islamic study center in South Springvale. But he insisted that "the individuals were acting by themselves and are not representative of any religious, cultural or national group."