Australia ISIS fighters were taken into custody on Thursday after authorities identified their plan to carry out random ISIS-inspired beheadings in Sydney and Brisbane, CBC News has learned.
According to local officials, at least six Australia ISIS fighters were detained, including a suspected ringleader. Nine other people were initially detained but were freed a couple of hours later. All of them were said to be supporters of the radical Islamic State group.
The ISIS-inspired plot was discovered after several raids were conducted on over a dozen properties across Sydney by more than 800 federal and state officers.
The raids were carried out as a response to intelligence that an Islamic State group leader in the Middle East has asked their Australian supporters to slay and behead people randomly, Prime Minister Tony abbot said.
"That's the intelligence we received," Abbott told reporters. "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."
Abbott used ISIL to refer to the al-Qaida splinter group leading Sunni militants in Iraq, Syria, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, now considered as simply the Islamic State.
Though the ringleader was not named, Australia's most senior ISIS member, Mohammad Ali Baryalei was declared a co-conspirator in court documents.
Baryalei, 33, is said to be a former part-time actor and Sydney nightclub bouncer.
He was alleged to have given the Australia ISIS fighters instruction on kidnapping people in Brisbane and Sydney and beheading them on camera, and hand the video recordings to ISIS's media unit.
"This is not just suspicion, this is intent and that's why the police and security agencies decided to act in the way they have," Abbott quipped.
"If the ... police had not acted today, there is a likelihood that this would have happened," Attorney General George Brandis told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Authorities have not revealed why nine of the detained Australia ISIS fighters were released before the day ended, or whether they are to face charges later, reported New York Post.
Nevertheless, one of the detained ISIS supporters, identified as 22-year-old Omarjan Azari, made a brief appearance in court on Thursday.
Azari is said to be involved in the plan to "gruesomely" kill random people, which is something that was "clearly designed to shock and horrify" the public, said Prosecutor Michael Allnutt.
The 22-year-old is currently charged with conspiracy to prepare for a terrorist attack, but the possible penalty has not been identified yet.
Azari's lawyer, Steve Boland, maintained that the charge has no clear basis since the allegation was simply based on "one phone call."
On the other hand, terrorism experts question whether the group of Australia ISIS fighters can really organize a major terror campaign in Australia, considering that they are far away from their base.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
