Australian police say they have arrested three men who were plotting to commit a terror attack in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
The group had been attempting to source a semi-automatic rifle to kill as many people as possible in a crowded place, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The suspects – aged 21, 26 and 30 – were allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n
There was no ongoing threat to the public, said Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton.<\/p>\n
Mr Ashton said the men had not settled on a location for the alleged attack, but their planning had “escalated” in recent days.<\/p>\n
“There was a view towards a crowded place, a place where maximum people would be attending, to be able to kill, we allege, as maximum an amount of people as possible,” he told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month,\u00a0a knife-wielding attacker killed one man and injured two others<\/a>\u00a0in Melbourne in what police said was a terror attack.<\/p>\n Mr Ashton said the suspects arrested on Tuesday had become “more energised” in the past week, but it was unclear whether this was due to increased public discussion about terrorism.<\/p>\n The three men, all Australian citizens of Turkish descent, were arrested in police raids in Melbourne’s north-west on Tuesday.<\/p>\n They had been tracked by authorities since last year and recently had their passports cancelled, Mr Ashton said.<\/p>\n Police said the men had been in the process of acquiring a semi-automatic .22 calibre rifle.<\/p>\n “If we had not acted early in preventing this attack, we’ll allege the consequences would have been chilling,” said Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney.<\/p>\n The three men were expected to charged with terror-related offences later on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Australian police have charged 90 people in counter-terrorism investigations since 2014, when the nation’s terror threat level was raised to “probable”.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alleged plot ‘chilling’<\/h2>\n