Update August 6th: Islamic Scholar says he warned government about radicalization among refugees, here.
Update August 5th: Suspect causes ruckus in court, here.
Update August 4th: More from Reuters today, here.
Yes, it seems that what most feared would happen in the US when it was learned that 20 or so Somali young men (former refugees) had left the good life in the US and gone to terrorist training in Somalia has come to pass—in Australia! One of those arrested today in Melbourne brought his Al-Shabaab training back from Africa and was planning to use it against Australian soldiers. Hat tip: Mars.
From The Australian:
Four men – all Australian citizens – were arrested this morning as federal and state police, armed with search warrants, swooped on members of the suspected terror cell this morning in the second-largest counter-terrorism operation in the nation’s history.
Those arrested included a 26-year-old Carlton man, a 25-year-old Preston man, a 25-year-old Glenroy man and a man, 22, from Meadow Heights.
About 400 police raided homes in the northern Melbourne suburbs of Glenroy, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Westmeadows, Preston and Epping. They also raided homes at Carlton in inner Melbourne and Colac in southwestern Victoria.
“Police believe members of a Melbourne-based group have been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia and allegedly involved in hostilities in Somalia,” a joint police statement said.
The men are expected to be charged with a range of terrorism-related offences.
Authorities believe the group is at an advanced stage of preparing to storm an Australian Army base, using automatic weapons, as punishment for Australia’s military involvement in Muslim countries. It is understood the men plan to kill as many soldiers as possible before they are themselves killed.
Since the men were all Australian citizens, as the missing Minnesota Somalis are American citizens, we can assume they arrived in Australia as refugees and possibly as small children as had the American Somalis. They obviously didn’t appreciate the generosity of the humanitarians who lifted them out of African poverty. The call to take part in Islamic Jihad trumps the good life anyday.
The cell has been inspired by the Somalia-based terrorist movement al-Shabaab, with two Melbourne men, both Somalis, having travelled to Somalia in recent months to obtain training with the extremist organisation, which is aligned with al-Qa’ida.
One of those men has already returned to Melbourne. The other is still in Somalia.
[….]
The suspects include Australians of Somali and Lebanese decent, most of whom are labourers employed in Melbourne’s construction industry, or taxi drivers.
Learn more at The Australian.