Police have raided dozens of homes in Sydney and Brisbane as part of the largest terrorism raid in Australia’s history.
About 800 officers were involved in the Sydney raids, while another 75 took part in Brisbane.
The operation saw 15 people detained as well as one individual charged with serious terrorism-related offences.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the raids targeted people who were planning to inflict “serious violence on a random member of the public”.
Further details of the alleged attack have emerged, with reports that IS supporters were planning a public beheading.
It’s alleged the plan involved abducting a random person member, draping them in an IS flag and beheading them on camera.
Director International of the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash University, Professor Greg Barton, said the raids were not a “surprise or sudden development” given ASIO’s decision last week to raise the terror alert level to “high”.
He said he believed those targeted have been under surveillance for several months.
“I think that the actual evidence that’s been collected … may go back at least six months and, at the very least, there has probably been an operation in place for three months.”
He said it’s likely police held off acting earlier in order to gain enough evidence to stand up in a court of law.
“We want the cases to be settled through open and transparent courts of law, which means you need evidence. That takes a long time to collect.
“Of course you’ll move in and interrupt a plot if there is any danger of anybody doing something. But as long as it’s safe, they’ll keep the surveillance going until they get strong evidence.”
The last time Australia saw a counter-terrorist operation of this calibre was in 2005, under Operation Pendennis.
But Professor Barton believes the hundreds of police officers involved in this week’s co-ordinated raids suggest it is a larger scale operation.
“It’s not surprising given the context of Syria and Iraq, which is something unprecedented,” he said.
Operation Pendennis uncovered a network of jihadist cells in Melbourne and Sydney and revealed plots to commit terrorist attacks on Australian soil.
Professor Barton said if the Pendennis court cases are any guide, any charges will take a long time to work their way through the judicial system.
“The (Operation Pendennis) court cases were very expensive and long-running.
“We’re likely to be dealing with the results of today for a very long time.”
