Police describe ‘sophisticated’ plot to down jet
SYDNEY — The Australian police described on Friday an elaborate terrorist plot in which two men from Sydney tried to place an explosive supplied by the Islamic State on a flight last month, an operation that officials said was among “the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil.”
The Australian Federal Police said the charges covered an aborted attempt last month to place an explosive on an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney. The discovery of the plot led authorities to tighten airport security around the nation last weekend.
As part of the plot, one of the men brought the explosive device to the Sydney airport in a piece of luggage, and asked his brother to take the luggage on the plane without disclosing its actual contents. But the bag never made it onto the flight for unknown reasons.
Officials said the discovery of the plot was the 13th significant threat that police had exposed and broken up since Australia raised its terrorist threat level to probable in 2014.
“The threat from terrorism is real,” Michael Phelan, the deputy commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, said at a news conference on Friday announcing the charges against the two men, Khaled Mahmoud Khayat, 49, and Mahmoud Khayat, 32. “This is one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil.”
Investigators say that parts of the explosive, a roadside bomb, were sent through international air cargo from Turkey through Islamic State operatives in Syria to one of the suspects in Australia, Phelan said.
He added that an Islamic State commander told one of the suspects how to assemble the explosive device into “what we believe was a functioning IED to be placed on that flight.” But the bag never got past the check-in counter.
“As a result of that aborted attempt, there were a number of actions that took place on that day, and we did recover components of that IED,” the commissioner said.
Investigators also said that after the airport plot did not succeed, the suspects tried to create an improvised chemical device intended to release “highly toxic hydrogen sulfide.” An Islamic State operative in Syria advised the men on which public areas to place the device, police said.
The charges against the men carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.