Australian police arrest seven alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of bishop in Sydney church

The Australian police said they have arrested seven individuals deemed "unacceptably high risk and threatening" to the public following counter-terrorism raids involving 400 officers on Wednesday.

Two senior officers revealed that the individuals are linked to a 16-year-old youth accused of stabbing an Assyrian bishop and espousing "extremist ideology with religious motivations."

Earlier, the police had announced the arrest of five individuals.

Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson speculated that the group might be planning an attack, although no specific target was identified.

He told reporters, "Their behavior, under surveillance, led us to believe that if they were to undertake an act, we would not be able to prevent it."

"We concluded during the investigation that an attack was more likely."

The police noted that all the detainees were minors.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed in the head and chest in an incident carried out by a sixteen-year-old boy at the Assyrian Church of the Good Shepherd while the bishop was delivering a sermon.

In front of the worshippers inside the church and those following the sermon online, the assailant lunged at the bishop with his knife, in a brutal attack that sparked widespread panic and outrage among followers of the Assyrian Church in western Sydney.

AFP