Four days after Bondi Beach attack, Australian police carry out dramatic operation as intelligence suggests possible new plot

Australian police carried out a dramatic operation in a Sydney suburb on Thursday, in which heavily armed officers in tactical gear allegedly rammed a car and at least briefly detained several men amid the ongoing crackdown. investigation into Sunday’s terrorist attack at a Jewish holiday gathering on the city’s Bondi Beach.

New South Wales State Police said in a statement that two vehicles were intercepted by tactical operations officers responding “to information received that a violent act was possibly being planned.”

The operation took place in the suburb of Liverpool, south-west of Sydney, about half an hour’s drive from Bondi Beach. Police said they had “not identified any connection to current law enforcement.” Bondi terror attack investigation“.

Australian media outlets NewsWire and The Australian newspaper said the intercepted men were believed to be heading to Bondi from the city of Melbourne, almost 550 miles away in the state of Victoria.

No arrests were announced, although photographs from the scene showed men sitting on the ground as officers surrounded them. Police said seven men were “assisting police with their investigations.”

Police said there was no threat to the public and the operation had concluded.

NewsWire quoted an anonymous witness to the operation as saying it was “scary to see so many police with huge guns in the area” so soon after the Bondi attack.

While police said there was no immediate link to the Bondi Beach shooting, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Thursday morning that more raids should be expected following the terror attack, in which two gunmen killed 15 people attending a celebration marking the first day of Hanukkah.

“In the coming days, the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team will be executing further search warrants to support our investigation. There is a lot of material to examine, and the News continues to work with national and international partners to build a more complete picture of the movements and who the alleged criminals had contact with, both in Australia and overseas,” he said.