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Australia: 5 teens charged following anti-terror raids

April 25, 2024

Five boys between the ages of 14-17 were charged following the knife attack on a bishop in Sydney last week. Australian police say they all adhered to "violent extremist ideology."

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A member of NSW Forensic police is seen at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in the suburb of Wakeley on April 16, 2024 in Sydney, Australia
The raids are part of an investigation after a stabbing attack at the Christ The Good Shepherd ChurchImage: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Australian police charged five teenagers on Thursday with terrorism-related offenses following the stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church.

They were arrested in the region Sydney on Wednesday in a major operation by the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team.

Police said that they were associates of a 16-year-old boy previously charged in the knifing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel on April 15 at his church.

The five are set to appear in court on Thursday.

What new charges were laid?

The latest charges included possessing violent extremist material, conspiring to prepare for a terrorist act and carrying a knife in public, New South Wales (NSW) police said.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson alleged Wednesday that the arrested boys "adhered to a religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology." 

Two of them, aged 16 and 17, have been charged with conspiring to engage in or planning a terrorist act, a police statement said.

The older boy was also charged with carrying a knife in public.

Two others were charged with possessing or controlling violent extremist material accessed online, police said.

Who is the bishop who was stabbed?

Emmanuel is a bishop at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in the Sydney suburb of Wakefield.

He is known as a social media star with followers around the world and a fiery critic of homosexuality, COVID vaccinations, Islam and US President Joe Biden's election.

The Assyrian Church, which has its world headquarters in Iraq, is a Christian sect with its historical origins in parts of modern Turkey, Syria and Iran.

km/fb (Reuters/AP)