’Daesh-Inspired’ Teens Charged in Australia
Local Editor
Two 16-year-old boys were charged Thursday with planning an imminent terror attack after being arrested with "bayonet-type" knives in Sydney, with police saying the pair were inspired by Daesh [ISIS/ISIL].
The boys, who were not identified by their names, were seized in the city's southwest after buying the weapons in a shop, renewing fears about youth radicalization.
They face life imprisonment if convicted on charges of "acts done in preparation, or planning, terrorist acts", and membership of a terror organization.
"We don't have any specific information of a particular target where we will allege that there was going to be an imminent attack," said New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn.
"What we do know, though, is that the actions, we will allege, were enough to say they were preparing to do an attack although we don't know specifically where that attack was going to take place."
She added that police were alleging "the attack was inspired by Daesh".
They were refused bail by a children's court and are due to reappear in December.
Australian officials say they have now prevented 11 terror attacks on home soil in the past two years. But several have taken place, including the murder of a Sydney police employee last year.
Counter-terror police have made a series of arrests since late 2014, with the young age and radicalization of many of those detained representing a growing concern for authorities.
The latest arrests come just weeks after a 22-year-old man, who police said was also inspired by Daesh, stabbed a 59-year-old grandfather out walking in Sydney, leaving him with serious injuries.
Two days before the stabbing, a teenage boy was charged with making threats at the Sydney Opera House, with both incidents following a Daesh call to target high-profile Australian sites.
The Australian government has become increasingly concerned about homegrown extremism and the terror threat level was raised in September 2014.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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