Accused Islamic State operative arrested in Australia
CANBERRA — An alleged Islamic State member has been arrested by counter-terrorism agents over allegations that he instructed people on how to plan and conduct mass-casualty attacks from his base in Australia.
The Melbourne man, whom the Australian Federal Police alleges was a propagandist for the Islamic extremist group, is accused of sending about 10,000 documents, messages, images, videos and audio files relating to executions and torture.
The 65-year-old allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and acted on its behalf without traveling to territory controlled by the terrorist organization during the conflict in the Middle East.
READ: IS-linked group set to return to Australia, minister saysThe man was arrested at his Carlton home, in Melbourne’s inner north, on Wednesday morning.
Counter-terror officers will also allege that the man shared information about avoiding detection from law enforcement, along with instructional guides on planning and conducting mass-casualty attacks.
He is expected to be charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and violent extremist material offenses.
It is believed more than 200 Australians have joined IS since 2012, some of the more than 50,000 fighters the group was thought to have attracted from overseas.
READ: Bondi Beach gunmen had possible Islamic State links, says ABCHaving administered an area roughly the size of Great Britain across Syria and Iraq at its peak in 2014, IS has since been splintered by foreign adversaries into pockets of Nigeria, Mozambique and Mali. /dl
