A man instructed by the Islamic State (IS) group to bring down an Etihad Airways flight tried to use an unsuspecting passenger to carry a bomb on board, with a second poisonous gas plot also in the works, Australian police said yesterday.
The improvised explosive device (IED), using “high-military-grade explosive,” was due to be smuggled onto a July 15 service from Sydney, but the attempt was aborted before they reached security.
Two men — Khaled Khayat and Mahmoud Khayat — have been charged with terrorism offenses and yesterday were refused bail, with a third still being questioned.
Police said that one of them planted the bomb in the passenger’s luggage.
Local reports said the luggage belonged to the man’s own, innocent, brother.
“We will be alleging the person who was to carry the IED had no idea they were carrying an IED,” Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said. “There is a little bit of conjecture as to why it didn’t go ahead. It didn’t get past the check-in.”
Police are working on the theory that it was called off because the device might have been too heavy.
Authorities also foiled a second alleged plot involving a “chemical dispersion device” designed to release hydrogen sulphide, but this was in the early stages.
Hydrogen sulphide is highly toxic and often fatal for people exposed to it.
“Not only have we stopped the IED that was believed to go on the plane, but we have also completely disrupted the intended chemical dispersion device,” Phelan said.
The second plan was hatched after the first one failed and was not necessarily targeted at a plane, police said.
“They were talking about crowded, closed spaces, you know, potentially public transport and so on,” Phelan said, but added that they “got nowhere near making one.”
The plot was orchestrated by “a senior member of the Islamic State” based overseas.
Communications with the militant group began in April and they sent components and propellants through international cargo from Turkey to the men, police said.
The men were then directed on how to build a bomb that could have caused “significant damage.”
“With assistance from the ISIL commander, the accused assembled the IED into what we believe was a functioning IED to be placed on that flight,” said Phelan, referring to Islamic State by an alternative acronym.
The destination of the flight was not revealed, although reports have previously suggested it was Abu Dhabi.
Etihad earlier this week confirmed it was working with authorities in Australia on their investigation.
Police would not reveal who the Islamic State link was, but said it will be alleged that the men were introduced to him by a relative who is a senior member of the Muslim group in Syria.
“It is a concern that it got through,” Phelan said about the bomb components arriving in Australia through the mail. “What we’re alleging is the components of the IED originated in Turkey at this stage. We are very confident that we have found every single component of that IED.”
Security was tightened at domestic and international airports across Australia after four men were arrested in raids in Sydney on Saturday last week over what Phelan called “one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil.”
Australian Minister of Justice Michael Keenan said the effects if the plot had succeeded “could have been catastrophic.”
“I understand that Australians will feel very unnerved about hearing this news and the police allege that we have been the target of a very serious ISIL plot, but I do want to remind everyone that this is the 13th time, because of the excellence of our law enforcement agencies, that we have been able to stop a terrorist attack from occurring on Australian soil in the past three years,” he told reporters.
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