Arrests in Sydney in counter-terrorism raids

  • 23/12/2015
Arrests in Sydney in counter-terrorism raids

Two men have been arrested in Sydney and will be charged with terrorism offences linked to a possible attack on government buildings.

It follows raids in the suburbs of Bankstown and Merrylands as part of the ongoing Operation Appleby into the alleged planning of a terrorist attack in Australia, The Guardian reports.

New South Wales police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn named the Australian federal police headquarters and a navy base in the east among the alleged targets.

However, she would not say how the men may have been involved.

Ms Burn said the alleged plot wasn't a "specific act, a specific activity".

"What we will be saying is there was a group of people who came together with the idea, with the intent to do something and they started to make preparations to carry out a terrorist act," she said.

She believes police intervened before the alleged plot became more concrete.

The charges stem from handwritten documents seized from a Wiley Park home in December 2014, which mention a number of locations.

The two men arrested were aged 20 and 24.

They join a number of other men charged with conspiracy earlier this month.

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