Sydney church attack ‘religiously motivated terrorist act’, says police. Top updates

Sydney church stabbing attack: According to the police, the accused 16-year-old boy was “known to the police” but was not on any terror watch list.

The Australian police on Tuesday said the brutal knife attack at a church in Sydney, in which a bishop and multiple worshippers were injured, was a “religiously motivated terrorist” act. According to New South Wales Police commissioner Karen Webb, the attack was deemed an act of religiously motivated “extremism” that intimidated the public - both parishioners at the church and people following the live-streamed service online, reported Reuters.

Security officers stand guard outside Orthodox Assyrian church in Sydney, Australia after a bishop and churchgoers were stabbed in the church. (AP)

“After consideration of all the material, I declared that it was a terrorist incident,” New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb, told the media.

The police commissioner added, “We’ll allege there’s a degree of premeditation on the basis that this person has travelled to that location, which is not near his residential address, he has travelled with a knife and subsequently the bishop and the priest have been stabbed…They’re lucky to be alive.”

The incident took place at Christ the Good Shepherd church in the suburb of Wakeley on Monday, just two days after another stabbing attack in the city which resulted in the killing of six people.

Sydney church stabbing attack top updates

1. Four people were injured in the stabbing attack, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and a priest, who were being treated for “non-life threatening injuries”. Hours after the incident, the church in a message on social media informed that the bishop and priest were in a “stable condition” and asked people for their prayers.
2. The police arrested a 16-year-old boy for the brutal stabbing. The teenager is currently under police guard at a local hospital after undergoing surgery for injuries he sustained.
3. According to the police, the accused teenager was “known to the police” but was not on any terror watch list.
4. The police also informed that there was no indication at this stage that any other individuals were involved in planning the attack. While the attack is seen as a terrorist act, Australia’s terrorism threat level would not be raised as a result of the incident, they said.
5. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, while addressing the media on Tuesday morning, said that they have established a joint counter-terrorism task force including the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in the wake of the attack. “I understand that people are feeling uneasy, and that’s understandable given the atrocity that occurred on Saturday and then this incident last night…There is no place for violence in our community. There’s no place for violent extremism,” he said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

(With inputs from agencies)