AP reports:
Police in Australia foiled terrorist plans for commando-style suicide attacks on at least one army base, arresting four men Tuesday with suspected links to a Somali Islamist group, senior officers said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the plot was a “sober reminder” that Australia is still under threat from extremist groups enraged that the country sent troops to join the U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some 400 officers from state and national security services took part in 19 pre-dawn raids on properties in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, and arrested four men, all Australian citizens ranging in age from 22 to 26, police said.
Several others were being questioned Tuesday, police said.
Australian Federal Police Acting Commissioner Tony Negus said the raids followed a seven-month surveillance operation of a group of people allegedly linked to al-Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-linked Somali extremist organization that has been fighting to overthrow Somalia’s transitional government.
The cell’s plans included sending members armed with automatic weapons into military bases in Australia, including Holsworthy Barracks on the outskirts of Sydney, Negus said.
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