Police Arrest Five Melbourne Teenagers Allegedly Planning Terror Attacks On Anzac Day, Australian PM Promises Tight Security

Tony Abbott asked Australians not to pay attention to the exposed terror plot and participate in Anzac Day commemorations. The Australian prime minister’s comment came as police exposed a group of teenagers’ plan of a major terror attack in Melbourne during the ceremony.

Abbott confirmed that five teenagers had been arrested on Saturday. The teenagers driven by Islamic State ideologies allegedly wanted to target the centenary commemoration of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli during the WWI on Apr. 25. The Australian PM said that people should react in defiance and turn up at the events in “the largest possible numbers.”

Abbott said that Australian people should show their support for the country, its values and its armed forces. according to Abbott, there is going to be tight security at major public events in Sydney even though authorities do not believe there are similar terror plans for the city.

The Australian PM said that people should be confident that the authorities were doing everything “humanly possible” to keep the people of the country as safe as anyone could be. "The best thing we can do to counter terrorism and the threat of terrorism as individuals is to lead normal lives," he said.

The five Melbourne teenagers were detained during the early hours on Apr. 18 after a series of police operation Rising raids. According to senior police officials, the risk has been contained. Two 18-year-olds among the detainees are from Hallam and Hampton Park while another 18-year-old is from Narre Warren.

While the teenagers gave a number of details of their terror plans, it was known that they had plans to target police officers rather than common people. The young boys said that they had wanted to use “edged weapons” during the planned attacks.

Australian federal police acting deputy commissioner Neil Gaughan said that at least two teenagers were likely to face terrorism charges. He confirmed that their plans had been motivated by IS extremism.

The teenagers are believed to be associates of Numan Haider who had stabbed a couple of police officers in 2014. He was eventually shot dead by police.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au