4 days after Bondi Beach attack, Australian police conduct dramatic operation as intel suggests possible new plot
Australian police carried out a dramatic operation in a Sydney suburb on Thursday, with heavily armed officers in tactical gear reportedly ramming a car and at least briefly detaining several men amid the ongoing investigation into the Sunday terror attack on a Jewish holiday gathering at the city's Bondi Beach.
The New South Wales state police force said in a statement that two cars were intercepted by tactical operations officers responding "to information received that a violent act was possibly being planned."
The operation was conducted in Sydney's southwest suburb of Liverpool, about a half hour drive away from Bondi Beach. Police said they had "not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack."
Australian news outlets NewsWire and The Australian newspaper said the intercepted men were believed to be heading for Bondi from the city of Melbourne, almost 550 miles away in Victoria state.
No arrests were announced, though photos from the scene showed men sitting on the ground as officers moved around them. Police said seven men were "assisting police with their inquiries."
Police said there was no threat to the public and the operation had concluded.
NewsWire quoted an unnamed witness of the operation as saying it was "frightening to see so many police with huge weapons in the area" so soon after the Bondi attack.
While police said there was no immediate link to the Bondi Beach shooting, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said earlier Thursday morning that more raids should be expected in the wake of the terror attack, in which two gunmen killed 15 people attending a celebration marking the first day of Hanukkah.
"In the coming days, the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team will execute further search warrants to support our investigation. There is a lot of material to be examined, 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 offenders had contact with, both in Australia and offshore," she said.
