Police arrest two men in Sydney counter-terrorism raids

Police arrested two men in counter-terrorism raids in Sydney on Wednesday. The men were suspected to plan attacks on different locations, including a naval base and police headquarters.

New South Wales Police Force and Australian Federal Police jointly conducted the raid. They arrested 24-year-old Abdullah Salihy at Memorial Avenue in Merrylands and 20-year-old Mohammad Alamouie in Bankstown under Operation Appleby.

NSW police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn said that the charges were connected to the planned attacks in Sydney in December 2014. She mentioned AFP headquarters and a navy base in the east Sydney were among the expected targets, but she avoided providing further details on the involvement of two men in the matter.

Burn added that the community would have suffered from no threats, but the Sydney buildings have been found to be the topic of discussions among the alleged terrorists. She also said that the raids are part of operation by the police, and which focus on young men of around 20 years old who are suspected to carry out terror attacks across Australia.

“Today we have conducted a further two arrests, which brings this to a total of 13 people we will have brought before the court under Operation Appleby,” Burn stated. “In there, Woolloomooloo naval base was one of the locations that were discussed. But there wasn’t a specific place identified,” she added.

Burn said that the arrests and planning have been linked to terror events in 2014, which followed seizing of documents and other materials during the raid. 'But what is important is that we received some information and community safety was our number one priority at this stage and that's why we undertook a disruption activity,' she said.

'So we think we disrupted what may have eventuated into something becoming more specific.'

The 20-year-old arrestee was focused earlier in December raids when five people were charged with conspiring to attack the AFP headquarters. A senior police source told the ABC that Salihy was plotting a “a similar type of attack that happened at Parramatta police headquarters.”

The two arrestees are expected to attend the court proceedings later on Wednesday.

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