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Sydney Teens Charged With Terror Related Offences

If convicted, they could get life imprisonment.
New South Wales Acting Police Commissioner Catherine Burn addresses the media after two 16-year-old boys were charged with terror-related offences in Sydney on October 13, 2016.
AFP/Getty Images
New South Wales Acting Police Commissioner Catherine Burn addresses the media after two 16-year-old boys were charged with terror-related offences in Sydney on October 13, 2016.

Two teenagers have been charged with terror related offences after they were arrested in South-West Sydney, police say.

The pair, both 16, were arrested in a Bankstown laneway on Wednesday afternoon, with authorities seizing two bayonet style knives at the scene.

Both teenagers -- who were reportedly a day form sitting HSC exams -- were charged with acts in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act and if convicted they face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

They were also charged with membership of a terrorist organisation, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

"We'll be alleging that the two 16 year old boys went to a gun shop in Bankstown and purchased two knives," Acting NSW Police Commissioner Catherine Burn told journalists on Thursday.

"They've then gone from that location, caught a bus to the location in Bankstown where they were arrested."

Police at the crime scene where two men where arrested at Adnum Lane, Bankstown on October 12, 2016 in Sydney
Fairfax Media
Police at the crime scene where two men where arrested at Adnum Lane, Bankstown on October 12, 2016 in Sydney

Burn said it was the 11th imminent attack prevented in Australia.

"The fact we are putting two teenagers before the court on such serious charges reflects the ongoing threat we face," she said in a statement issued after the press conference.

The Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce also executed search warrants at addresses in Revesby, Lakemba, Parramatta and Bankstown -- and seized a number of items for examination.

The pair was bailed refused and will appear in Parramatta Children's Court on Thursday.

Alleged family members of the two men arrested or terror charges leave Bankstown police station
Fairfax Media
Alleged family members of the two men arrested or terror charges leave Bankstown police station

Federal Justice minister Michael Keenan said police were being trained in indicators of radicalisation.

"Since the national terrorism threat level was raised on 12 September 2014, there have been four attacks, and now 11 major [counter-terrorism] disruption operations in response to potential attack planning in Australia," he told the ABC.

"I would like to reassure the public that following these arrests there is no immediate or ongoing threat to the public."

The JCTT also advised there is no ongoing threat to the community.

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