Four held in ‘sausage grinder bomb’ plot to blow up plane
‘Sophisticated attacks remain a threat’
FOUR suspected Islamist terrorists were being questioned yesterday over a plot to blow up an aircraft using a sausage mincing machine.
The men, two fathers and their sons, were accused of planning to detonate the device on a flight from Sydney to the Middle East with hundreds of passengers on board.
They were dragged from their homes in a series of raids across the city after a tip- off that the explosive was ‘ready to go’.
Experts are believed to be examining whether a metal sausage-grinding machine said to be part of the plot could have been converted into a bomb. Sources told one local media outlet that homemade peroxide-based explosives could have been contained inside the grinder.
When sealed, this could have the same effect as a pipe bomb, concentrating the explosion and generating deadly shrapnel.
Peroxide-based explosive devices were used in the July 2005 attacks on the London transport network. Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi also used a similar explosive to murder 22 concert-goers in Manchester in May. The latest scare has triggered extra security checks at airports across Australia. Security expert Greg Barton branded the first plot to target aircraft in Australia as a ‘pretty big threshold moment’.
Armed officers and forensic teams descended on several suburban homes during the subsequent raids in the Surry Hills, Lakemba, Punchbowl and Wiley Park neighbourhoods of Sydney.
Police smashed down a brick wall during one raid and were seen digging up the garden of another suspect.
Officers have requested extra time to continue to question suspects Khaled and Abdul Merhi, as well as Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat. And sources said the men have been linked to previous suspected plots.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said: ‘The primary threat to Australia remains lone attackers, but the events overnight remind us there is still the ability for people to have sophisticated plots, and sophisticated attacks remain a real threat.’
More than 150 Islamic State terrorists have been stripped of British citizenship amid fears they could unleash attacks if they return to the UK. Ministers have stepped up use of the so- called ‘deprivation orders’ on the advice of military intelligence chiefs. They are concerned jihadists, including experienced bomb makers, pose one of the greatest threats to domestic security.