Counter-terrorism police have raided multiple Sydney properties in a major operation a little over a week after a bishop was stabbed during a live-streamed church sermon.
NSW Police said search warrants had been executed in the city on Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
“There is no current threat to public safety and no connection to Anzac Day commemorations,” police said in a statement.
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The counter-terrorism squad is made up of state and federal police as well as officials from ASIO and the NSW Crime Commission.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw, who was giving a National Press Club address when news of the raids broke, described it as a “major operation”.
“We do need to make, unfortunately, lawful interventions to prevent any further planning or attack on our community,” he said.
The execution of the search warrants follows a terrorism charge being laid against a 16-year-old over the attack at Christ the Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley, in western Sydney, on the night of April 15.
The stabbing, which investigators say was religiously motivated, left Assyrian bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and priest Isaac Royel injured before the attacker was subdued.
The accused teenager had received intermittent treatment for mental health issues for a number of years, his lawyer said during an initial court appearance on Friday.
His charge of committing a terrorist act carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Leaders from Sydney’s Lebanese Muslim community have said the 16-year-old’s family did not believe he had been radicalised online before the attack.
Several people have also been arrested and charged over riots that broke out outside the church following the stabbing.