Australian police shot dead a teenager after he stabbed two counterterrorism officers, days after sweeping raids involving hundreds of police thwarted what they said was an imminent plot to behead a member of the public.
Australia, a staunch ally of the US and its escalating action against the Islamic State, is on high alert for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East.
Security has been tightened at public places, including Parliament House in Canberra, where police are armed with assault rifles, and at major sports events.
The 18-year-old, named in parliament as Abdul Numan Haider, was asked to attend a police station in Victoria State on Tuesday night because his behavior was “causing concern,” police said.
“This was a planned and agreed meeting that was to occur at the Endeavour Hills police station. When these two police officers approached him, they were stabbed, one very seriously,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay told reporters yesterday.
“One of the injured police discharged his firearm, fatally wounding the 18-year-old,” Lay said.
Police said the man, who had his passport suspended about a week ago, had apparently displayed a flag linked to the militant group the Islamic State at a local shopping mall and had been “of interest” to police for months.
Local media reported he was of Afghan origin and that he had been shouting insults about Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the government before he was shot.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp said Haider had links to al-Furqan, a radical Muslim group in Melbourne that was raided by authorities in 2012.
“I can advise that the person in question was a known terror suspect who was a person of interest to law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” Australian Minister of Justice Michael Keenan told reporters.
Both officers were in a stable condition in hospital yesterday, with one undergoing surgery after he was stabbed in the head, stomach and neck.
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