Australia arrests two over alleged Islamic State financing police

Australia arrests two over alleged Islamic State financing  police

Australian police said on Tuesday they had arrested two people, including a 16-year-old girl, on suspicion of raising funds to support the operations of the Islamic State militant group.

The arrest in a Sydney suburb of the schoolgirl and a man, aged 20, were part of counter-terrorism operations aimed at thwarting attacks by domestic radicals at home and disrupting the flow of funds to foreign fighters overseas.

“We anticipate that both these people will be charged later today and attend court and the charge that we anticipate they will have is one of financing terrorism. It’s a very serious charge, it carries a maximum imprisonment of twenty five years. We will be alleging that they were involved in obtaining money to send offshore to assist the Islamic State in its activities,” New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn told reporters.

Australia’s anti-money laundering agency said in November that reports of suspected financing for militant groups had tripled in the past year, with more than A$50 million (26.4 million pounds) that could be used to support Islamist militants being investigated.

Authorities believe dozens of Australian citizens have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Islamic State militants.

Australia, a staunch ally of the United States and its battle against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown radicals since 2014.

Authorities say they have thwarted a number of potential attacks, while there have been several “lone wolf” assaults.

Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said the latest arrests were not connected to any threat of an imminent attack inside the country.

“The charges these two people are expected to face relate to their alleged activities in raising funds and attempting to transfer those funds to an overseas terrorist organisation,” he said in a statement.

In September 2014, police shot dead a Melbourne teenager after he stabbed two counter-terrorism officers. Three months later, two hostages were killed when police stormed a central Sydney cafe to end a 17-hour siege by a lone gunman, who was also killed.

A 15-year-old boy opened fire on an accountant at police headquarters in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta last October and was then killed in a gunfight with police outside the building.

 

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