Australia worried about ‘lone wolf terror’

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he is worried about potential “lone wolf” terrorist attacks in Australia, amid already existing fears that terrorists linked to the ISIL may carry out coordinated attacks on Australian soil.

“I am deeply concerned about the threat that lone wolf terrorism poses to people,” said Abbott, whose government has raised the terror threat level in the country to high.

The Australian premier, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, cited the concerns about the likelihood of lone wolf terror attacks as the reason for recent police raids in Sydney and Brisbane, which were carried out to foil an alleged plot by ISIL elements to carry out “demonstration killings.”

“I’m very concerned but I want to assure people that our police, our security and intelligence agencies are as professional as any in the world,” the Australian prime minister added. “And we are maintaining maximum vigilance to keep our country safe.”

The Australian government has tightened anti-terror laws in an attempt to exercise more control on those Australian citizens who travel to the Mideast to fight for the ISIL.

On Tuesday, 18-year-old suspected militant Abdul Numan Haider was shot dead after he attacked and stabbed two police officers outside a police station in Melbourne. One of the two officers has been seriously injured.

Australia has been an outspoken supporter of the US-led efforts to fight the ISIL in Iraq and Syria. On September 14, Abbott said his country would deploy 600 soldiers to the United Arab Emirates to fight the Takfiri ISIL terrorists operating in Iraq.

Iraq’s military, backed by volunteers, is fighting the ISIL militants in the northern and western parts of the country.

The ISIL terrorists currently control parts of Syria and Iraq. They have carried out heinous crimes in the two countries, including mass executions and beheadings of people.

HJL/KA