A senior NSW police officer says investigators believe a group of men arrested in Sydney’s south-west yesterday have “extremist Islamic ideology” and may have been en-route to Bondi.
Heavily armed officers arrested seven men in Liverpool on Thursday.
Police say the men had travelled from interstate and were known to Victoria Police.
Tactical police rammed two cars the men were in and officials say there is “some indication” Bondi was one of the locations the men planned to visit.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson says the only weapon found was a knife and there were no guns.
Speaking to 702 ABC Radio Sydney on Friday morning, Deputy Commissioner Hudson said the men were known to police.
NSW Police Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson say the men are known to Victorian Police. (ABC News)
“We have some indication that Bondi was one of the locations they might be visiting yesterday but with no specific intent in mind or proven at this stage,” he said.
When asked whether the men had links to “extremist Islamic ideology”, Deputy Commissioner Hudson replied: “That’s our belief at this stage, yes”.
The men were detained under rarely used terrorism and national security legislation that allows law enforcement to detain and question suspects for up to a week before laying charges.
Deputy Commissioner Hudson said tactical officers acted “before they had the ability to obtain any further capability”.
“We made the decision that our tolerance for risk and threshold for risk is, as you can understand, very low at the moment following last Sunday’s atrocities,” he said of the declared terror attack at Bondi Beach that killed 15.
“And we made the decision that we weren’t going to … take any chances in relation to what they might be doing.”
Vision from the scene showed handcuffed men face down on the ground, while later they were seen sitting on the floor facing a fence as heavily-armed police and riot squad officers stood behind them.
Loading