Australia authorities said they’re thwarted a terror plot and arrested two men in Sydney, seizing a machete, a knife, a video and an Islamic State flag.
One of the men reportedly told police that they were planning to carry out an attack that very day — though they declined to give the nature of the assault, Bloomberg reported.
“This is indicative of the threat that we now have to live with, and we are having to deal with,” New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn told reporters in Sydney.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott condemned the plot and praised the authorities.
“This is a serious problem,” he said during an address to parliament in Canberra on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported. “I fear it will get worse before it gets better.”
Mr. Abbott also said that police reported finding a “video recording of one suspect kneeling in front of the ISIL flag with the two knives whilst making a statement in Arabic” at the scene of the arrest, Bloomberg reported.
Australian officials said about 90 of the nation’s citizens were known to be in the Middle East, fighting for the Islamic State.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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