Sydney: Five men arrested in terror raids following Parramatta shooting attack

POLICE have arrested four men and a teenage boy in raids across Sydney’s west following Friday’s terrorist attack on police headquarters and the murder of Curtis Cheng, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Armed officers raided four houses in Bursill St, Guildford; Lane St, Wentworthville; Lockwood Street, Merrylands; and Booth Street, Marsfield, early this morning.

A police spokesman confirmed the arrests were in relation to the fatal shooting of Mr Cheng.

The raids began just after 6am on Wednesday when dozens of marked police cars and specialist vans left Merrylands Police station.Mr Cheng was executed as he left work on Friday at 4.30pm by teen terrorist Farhad Jabar.

This morning’s raids were co-ordinated with the counterterrorism squad and homicide squad.

More than 200 armed NSW officers as well as the Australian Federal Police arrested the five males aged between 16 and 24.The arrests indicate 15-year-old Farhad Jabar may not have been acting alone when he opened fire in Charles Street.

Two brothers aged 16 and 18 were arrested at Wentworthville while two men aged 22 and 24 have been arrested at Merrylands and a 22-year-old at his Marsfield home.

Three of the homes were also targeted during Operation Appleby terror raids in 2014.

The five arrested have been taken to various police stations where they will be interviewed.The men detained this morning are believed to be linked to extremist groups operating in Australia and abroad.

It is believed at least one of the men is an associate of terror suspect Omarjan Azari who was arrested in dawn raids last year over his alleged involvement in a plot to behead a member of the public.

A large section of Lane Street, Wentworthville, has been blocked off where heavily-armed counterterrorism police raided a unit block early this morning.The Daily Telegraph can confirm the raid targeted the family home of a man who had been investigated by police for possible Islamic State links.

He was also targeted in last year’s terror raids and was one of the men arrested this morning.

A man, wearing nothing but football shorts, has been also arrested at the scene, and is the brother of the two teens arrested.

The 22-year-old, who made obscene gestures at The Daily Telegraph and mouthed profanities, is being questioned by police who have Commonwealth powers of detainment but is expected to be released.

He was later escorted back into the unit block by plain clothed detectives where forensic specialists have also moved in to begin investigations.

The Daily Telegraph understands that a relative of one of the men arrested this morning attended Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta where terrorist Farhad Jabar went prior to his callous shooting attack.A 17-year-old boy arrested and charged yesterday for intimidating police on his Facebook account also attended the school.

A massive number of Public Order and Riot Squad officers remain at the scene in Wentworthville and are guarding a number of locations with high-powered weapons.

Concerned neighbours, meanwhile, are piling on to the street.

Officers from the joint counter terrorism task force continue to swarm the area as detectives scour the unit block where two men were arrested.“It is very worrying,” said one neighbour.

Another resident thought the chaos this morning was a result of him calling the police with a noise complaint about dogs barking at the address.

One of the residents who shares the unit block targeted in this morning’s operation has given a chilling account of the raid carried out in the darkness of pre-dawn.

Karen Smith, 57, said she woke to the yells of counter terrorism officers at 5am for the second time in a little over a year after the address was probed in relation to Operation Appleby.“I heard the police, they were yelling — ‘there’s a warrant, don’t move, everyone get out, don’t resist’,” she said.

“They were taking people out one by one.”

Asked about her neighbours who are now under police guard, Ms Smith said they were always polite and kept in check by their mother.

“I think they’re really nice people,” she said.

“I’ve never had any problem with them at all, the boys are always polite. I think it’s a real shame that the world has come to this.”

source:dailytelegraph.com.au