One of the teenage boys arrested on Wednesday with the intention of terrorist attack in Sydney. He is pictured here at the age of 12 at the 2012 Hyde Park riots
- Teenager was kicked out of Egypt last year after trying to join terror group
- He was one of two 16-year-olds accused of planning an IS-inspired attack
- His friend was also exposed to extremist ideals at the tender age of 12
- This teenager held up a beheading sign at the 2012 Hyde Park protests
A teenage boy accused of planning an Islamic State-inspired attack had been kicked out of Egypt after he arrived in the country with the intention of taking up arms for a terrorist organisation.
The 16-year-old, who was arrested along with another boy, was intercepted and questioned by Egyptian authorities on the way to Sinai, an area controlled by terrorists, before he was sent home late last year, The Australian reported.
He was found with an edition of Islamic State magazine Dabiq on his phone but this material was not enough for Australian police to charge the boy.
Instead police held on to the information that was passed on to them by Egyptian authorities and continued to build a case against the boy who was planning to meet up with Ansar Bait al Maqdis – a group with links to Islamic State.
His friend, also 16, had been exposed to extremist ideals from at least the age of 12 when he was seen at the 2012 Hyde Park protest.
A photograph show the boy was handed a sign to hold up that said: ‘Behead all those who insult the Prophet.’
The pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested on Wednesday after they were captured on security footage exchanging bags as they were on their way to allegedly behead someone with bayonets.
The 16-year-olds were seen standing on a busy sidewalk on Wednesday as they handed over their bags to one another before allegedly walking into a gun shop where police claim they bought the weapons, according to Seven News.
Less than an hour later, they were arrested by counter-terrorism police as they entered a Muslim prayer hall in Bankstown, in south-west Sydney.
Police claim the pair were planned on saying their final prayers at the hall, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
It comes as one of the teenagers is accused of telling his mother he allegedly intended to do ‘something bigger’ than the murder of Curtis Cheng.
‘When they come, I’m going to do something to them that they have never seen before,’ he allegedly said.
‘I’m going to do something bigger,’ the boy, who was intercepted on a police wire, said, according to court documents.
His mother did not go to authorities with the information.
Police claim the boy was drawing comparisons between himself and teen terrorist Farhad Jabar who shot the Mr Cheng outside NSW Police Force headquarters in Parramatta.
The revelations come after photos emerged of the mosque in Bankstown where the teenagers were arrested, Adnum Lane Musallah.
He and another 16-year-old boy remain behind bars after facing court on Thursday for allegedly possessing M9 Bayonet hunting knives in preparation to commit a terrorist act.
One boy allegedly had a handwritten note pledging allegiance to IS in his possession when he was arrested, according to court documents.
The pair were formally refused bail at Parramatta Children’s Court and their cases adjourned until December 7.
Both teens were well known to counter-terror police.
The boy who took part in the Hyde Park riots already has a relative behind bars for terror offences.
Authorities were unaware of any specific targets of this foiled alleged terror plot, but believed an attack was imminent.
‘Had we not been in the right place at the right time … certainly somebody, potentially today, would be, or another day imminently, would be without their life,’ AFP Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said on Thursday.
Asked if the teens were plotting a beheading, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Cath Burn said: ‘We don’t have any information to indicate that, however it is an ongoing investigation.’
The teens have each been charged with planning an act of terror – which carries a penalty of life behind bars – and being members of a terrorist organisation, which carries a penalty of 10 years’ prison.
Four western Sydney properties connected with the teenagers – including a prayer hall and multiple homes – were raided after the boys were taken into custody.
Items were seized for forensic examination and police have not ruled out making further arrests.
The age of the two boys is of significant concern to counter-terrorism police, who are seeing an increase in the number of radicalised teens.
‘The age of these two individuals at the age of 16 is of unbelievable concern to us. We are seeing it time and time again,’ Ms Burn said.
‘It’s up to the parents, really, to try to do everything they can to make sure those signs of radicalisation at an early stage are addressed.’
If proved, this would be the 11th imminent terror attack prevented by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team in Australia.
‘We’ve got to remember that our current threat level is ‘probable’, and it’s there for a reason,’ Ms Burn said.
‘We are doing everything we can to prevent such attacks.’
Earlier it was reported by News Corp that radical Muslim preacher Junaid Thorne demanded police tell him ‘Where are my brothers?’ after they arrested the boys.
Thorne was held in the Supermax High Risk Management Centre in Goulburn, New South Wales, for four months for dodging counter-terrorism authorities and using a false name to fly from Perth to Sydney, ABC reported.
One of the teenagers, whose father has been convicted of terror-related charges, was allegedly arrested last year for not standing for the national anthem at his high school.
The same teen’s family was also targeted during the Operation Appleby raids in September 2014, and launched legal action against the NSW Police.
‘What really burns me from inside was hearing my mum screaming and seeing her in pain and not being able to do anything. I will remember that forever’, he told Fairfax at the time.
One of the boy’s mothers was seen at the police station after their arrest.
H/t kevin a.
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