‘He’s strange man, kept to himself’ Sydney Terror raids; Lakemba, Wiley Park, Punchbowl, Surry Hills

A TERRORIST plot to bring down a domestic flight with a bomb was at the centre of a series of raids across ­Sydney yesterday targeting an alleged Islamic extremist cell.

Wearing gas masks and ballistic ­armour, backed by fire crews and specially trained paramedics, officers from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team stormed three properties in Sydney’s west — at Sproule St, Lakemba, Renown Ave, Wiley Park, and Victoria Rd, Punchbowl — and a terrace on Goodlet Lne, Surry Hills, in the inner city.

The raids had been planned for ­several days and are understood to have been brought forward for ­operational reasons.

This morning Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed the plot and said security at airports around the country had been tightened.

A law enforcement official said officers involved in the searches were looking for material that could be used to make an improvised explosive device or “some other method” to bring down a domestic passenger plane.

Source: Terror raids in Sydney: Police storm homes in Lakemba, Wiley Park, Punchbowl and Surry Hills | Perth Now