Australian Police Arrest Two Suspects on Terrorism Charges

MOSCOW, December 24 (Sputnik) — Two terrorism suspects were arrested in Australia in the wake of counter-terrorism raids in Sidney and Brisbane, according to Reuters.

A 20-year-old man was charged with possessing documents containing information about potential government targets and enabling a terrorist attack, while a 21-year-old was accused of breaching a control order, as stated by the Australian police.

"I am confident that we've disrupted the activity that they were planning," said police representative Michael Phelan, cited by BBC. However, he went on to say that there were no specific targets or time frame associated with the reported activity.

The raids started in September after the country’s authorities raised the national terror warning level due to the threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State. Law enforcement officials announced they had located a terrorist cell, which was planning to commit acts of violence and execute a member of the public.

"I’m alerting people to that fact the terror threat remains high. At this level an attack is likely," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement, cited by the Daily Telegraph. He also stressed that Australian citizens should “go about their lives as normal”, but at the same time be aware that the possibility of terrorist acts does exist.

Australian intelligence services have been put on a high alert for Christmas, as there are concerns that terrorists may carry out attacks during the holidays.

The recent hostage crisis in the Sidney café raised public concerns about national security. The arrest of two terrorist suspects came eight days after the incident, which claimed the lives of three people, including the attacker.