Dec. 18 (UPI) — Sydney police have detained seven men in a suburb Thursday with officers reportedly ramming a car and detaining the men after a tip about a planned “violent attack.”
The arrests came just a few days after 15 people were killed on Bondi Beach in Australia at a Hanukkah gathering.
The seven men were believed to be traveling from Melbourne to Bondi. The intercepted cars had Victoria plates, which is the state that includes Melbourne, 550 miles from Sydney.
“At this point in time, police have not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack,” a New South Wales police press release said.
“Police subsequently intercepted two cars as part of the investigation. As investigations continue, seven men are assisting police with their inquiries,” the release said.
Police didn’t release any more details about the men or the attack plans.
The men were stopped in Liverpool, a suburb southwest of Sydney.
Social media images showed a white hatchback with body damage from a collision that was blocked off by police tape at a Liverpool intersection, The Guardian reported.
Other images showed several heavily armed police in camouflage gear, and men with their hands zip-tied behind their backs lined up against a nearby fence.
Though police said there is no link to the Bondi shooting, Thursday morning Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said to expect more raids in the wake of the Bondi attack.
“In the coming days, the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team will execute further search warrants to support our investigation. There is a lot of material to be examined, and the AFP continues to work with both domestic and international partners to build a more complete picture of the movements and who the alleged offenders had contact with, both in Australia and offshore,” she said.
