SYDNEY – Five teenagers were charged on April 25 following a wave of anti-terror raids across Sydney, as hundreds of police swooped on a network they said posed an “unacceptable risk” to the public.

The police had made a series of arrests a day earlier while investigating “associates” of a teenaged boy who on April 15 slashed an Assyrian bishop during a church sermon in Sydney.

Three of the teenagers were charged on the morning of April 25 with conspiring to plan or prepare for a “terrorist act”, the police said, while two others were charged over possessing “violent extremist material”.

One of the group, who ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old, was charged over “custody of a knife in a public place”.

More than 400 officers were involved in the searches at 13 locations across Sydney.

The police allege the teenagers were “religiously motivated” juveniles who were part of a “wider network of associates and peers”.

On April 24, New South Wales police deputy commissioner Dave Hudson said “intense” surveillance of the network painted an alarming picture that demanded immediate action.

“Their behaviour, whilst under surveillance, led us to believe that, if they were to commit any act, we would not be able to prevent that,” he told reporters after the raids.

“And we believed, through the investigation, that it was likely that an attack might ensue.”

Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was slashed in the head and chest by a teen suspect during a live-streamed sermon last week.

The bishop has an online following of almost 200,000, galvanising many with his criticism of Covid-19 vaccines and lockdowns as well as Islam and homosexuality.

The Australian National Imams Council on April 25 cautioned that high-handed police tactics risked further alienating “disillusioned youth”. AFP