Heavily armed Australian tactical police stopped two cars carrying seven people on the outskirts of Sydney on Thursday amid an ongoing investigation into a terrorist attack on a Jewish holiday gathering on the city’s Bondi Beach.
As reported by news.com.au, police raided a group of people who were believed to be headed to the iconic city beach – which revealed they were acting on information that a “violent act” was possibly being planned.
Footage from the scene showed the handcuffed men lying face down on the ground, while they were later seen sitting facing a fence with heavily armed police and riot squad officers standing behind them.
Sources told the outlet that a high-level “classified” briefing was held before the operation began in the south-west suburb of Liverpool.
Only the essential representatives of NSW Police, Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) elements were involved.
These people were reportedly traveling in two cars with number plates from the southern state of Victoria.
“At this time, police have not identified any links to the current police investigation into the Bondi terrorist attack,” a detailed statement from local forces said.
Australian AFP Commissioner Chrissy Barrett said on Thursday morning that more raids would be conducted in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, news.com reports.
In the coming days, the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team will execute further search warrants to support our investigation. There is a large body of material to investigate, and the AFP continues to work with both domestic and international partners to build a more complete picture of the movements and who the alleged perpetrators had contact with both in Australia and offshore.
Police said there is no threat to the public and the operation has ended.
