Two men arrested during a counter-terrorism raid in Sydney on Wednesday have been charged over allegedly planning and targeting important establishments across Sydney, including a naval base and police headquarters.

Mohammad Rashad Almouie, 20, and Abdullah Salihy, 24, were arrested in their homes in Bankstown and Merrylands by police officers prior their presentation to the Parramatta Local Court later that same day. Almouie has been charged with conspiring to commit an act to carry out a terrorist attack, which subjects a culprit to a life imprisonment.

Salihy has been charged with assembling and making documents linked to terror attacks by his own consent, which subjects a man to a maximum of 15 years in prison if found guilty. Both suspects did not apply for bail, though they have already been refused to do so. Their court proceedings are scheduled sometime in 2016.

Police discovered Salihy prepared terrorist-related credentials for an attack on AFP building and Sydney’s Garden Island navy in Woolloomooloo located in Sydney east. “These are very serious charges,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said.

Police officers have claimed that both arrested men formed an integral part of a “group of people (who) came together with the intent to do something and they started to make preparations to carry out a terrorist act.” “We will allege that the Woolloomooloo navy base was one of those locations,” Burn said.

The Australian Federal Police and NSW Police Force jointly undertook the raid under Operation Appleby, launched in September 2014. The sting focuses on investigating group of people around 20 years old who have been brainwashed to commit terror attacks in Australia.

Counter-terrorism raids in Sydney is a series of events that were being reported after major attacks in Australia, including the Parramatta shooting outside police headquarters in October. However, Burn claimed that there was no specific threat for the Australians and hence they must not worry.

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