‘We are terrorists’

Court hearing over so-called ‘Commander of IS in Australia’

THE self-declared commander of Islamic State in Australia was a teenager when he began telling his followers “we are terrorists”, sought out guns and explosives and tried to set up a stronghold in the Blue Mountains, police allege.

Isaac El Matari, now 20, was one of three men arrested in Sydney this week during antiterror raids.

He was charged on Wednesday with being an IS member, planning a terror attack and preparing for a hostile incursion into a foreign country.

El Matari had declared himself “the General Commander of IS in Australia” and told others “we are terrorists”, court documents state. Anti-terror investigators allege he had “answered the call of war” and spoke of “sacrificing himself” for IS.

The Greenacre man was allegedly planning on travelling to Khorasan province – an IS stronghold in Afghanistan – where he would get his hands on a rifle, authorities believe.

But El Matari’s terror plots were also focused on Australia, according to court documents.

He was allegedly trying to import guns and TNT and had collected US Army uniforms at an undisclosed location.

He is accused of planning to “create a stronghold in the Blue Mountains” and operate a contingent of IS fighters and choosing locations in Sydney to conduct guerilla-style terrorist attacks.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Ian Mccartney earlier this week said the plot was in the “early stages” and targeted police stations, defence establishments, embassies and consulates, councils, courts and churches in Sydney’s CBD.

El Matari did not appear at Parramatta Local Court yesterday and his lawyer did not apply for bail.

A day earlier his co-accused, Radwan Dakkak, 23, was charged with being a member of a terror organisation. He and El Matari are expected back before Parramatta Local Court on August 30.