Australian police arrested seven people overnight Friday as part of an investigation into a plot to attack central Melbourne on or around Christmas Day.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called it “one of the most substantial terrorist plots that have been disrupted over the last several years.”
Agencies within the country’s Joint Counter Terrorism Team arrested six men and a woman, all in their early to mid-twenties, in the North & West Metropolitan Region overnight, Victoria Police said. There is no ongoing threat, police said.
Victoria Police have said the attack was inspired by ISIS and was aimed for Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
Australian police said the arrests were made while executing search warrants in connection with an ongoing investigation into a plot to commit a “multimode” terrorist attack, “possibly on Christmas Day,” according to Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton.
Ashton said five suspectes are still in custody. Four are Australian-born. The other is Egyptian-born with Australian citizenship. He said the suspects were self-radicalized.
“Last night five search warrants were deployed as part of that operation. As a result of those search warrants, or during the execution of those warrants, seven arrests were made, and five of those persons are still in custody being questioned in relation to allegations of being involved in a terrorist event,” Ashton said during a news conference.
Australia has dealt with other threats from terrorism and increased radicalization. In October, two teens allegedly linked to ISIS were charged with planning an act of terror. Police seized two knives during the arrest in a suburb of Sydney. In 2014, two hostages and a gunman died in a deadly siege at a Sydney cafe.
Developing story – more to come