Terror raids: Police arrest ‘ISIS soldier’, search homes

UPDATE: A SYDNEY man who allegedly travelled to Syria to fight with a terror group was arrested in a dramatic traffic stop in southwestern Sydney this morning as homes across Sydney were raided.

A SYDNEY man who allegedly travelled to Syria to fight with a terror group was arrested in a dramatic traffic stop in southwestern Sydney this morning at the same time a number of houses were being raided across the region.

Mehmet Biber, 24, was taken into custody after a dramatic traffic stop by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team in Birrong this morning, while a 17-year-old boy has also been arrested.

Both have been charged with foreign incursion offences.

Police will allege Biber travelled to Syria to fight with al-Qaeda-aligned terror group Al Nusra in July 2013.

Mehmet Biber in 2013 when he is accused of travelling to Syria to fight with Al Nusra. Picture: Facebook

The teenager is accused of attempting to travel to the region to fight with ISIS in January last year.

Australians who have travelled to the Middle East to fight have a higher propensity to do damage back home, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said.

“What we would say generally is that if people have travelled to either Syria or Iraq or some other hostile place where there are hostile activities under way, we would say that they would potentially become ... more extreme and have greater capability to potentially do some attack,” she said.

Mehmet Biber was arrested this morning after a traffic stop in Birrong. Picture: Nine News

Heavily armed police stopped Biber in his truck. Picture: NSW Police

He was arrested at the scene after being forced from the vehicle. Picture: NSW Police

Police defended the period of time between when Biber returned to Australia in 2014 and his arrest this morning, saying evidence collection in Syria was almost impossible and extracting information from US-based social networks was also time consuming.

“Evidence collection from Syria is extremely difficult based on the fact that there is no competent law enforcement officers working in the region,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan told reporters this morning.

Where the raids took place this morning.

“It has been a complex investigation based on the amount of electronic equipment that we seize, but we have arrested these gentlemen as quickly as we possible could and we ensure that we continue to take the matters of foreign incursion very seriously.”

The involvement of another teenager was troubling for police, Deputy Commissioner Burn said.

“Of concern again we have a juvenile who appears to be involved, and we will allege is involved potentially in wanting to engage in hostile activities, and this is a continuing concern for us,” Ms Burn said.

The 24-year-old was arrested along with a 17-year-old.

Members of the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team at the scene of the arrest. Picture: NSW Police

Biber allegedly travelled to Syria in 2013 to fight with the Free Syria army, part of a group of men sent by a group, lead by convicted ISIS recruiter Hamdi Alqudsi, to “engage in armed hostilities”.

Pictures posted on Biber’s Facebook page in 2013 showed images of bombed out buildings, injured children and a dead aid worker in Syria.

In December he posted a message to his page that claimed “I’m a tourist not a terrorist”.

NSW Police confirmed this morning that the Joint Counter Terrorism Team carried out search warrant activity as part of an ongoing investigation, saying there was no direct threat to the community.

Originally published as Terror raids: Police arrest ‘ISIS soldier’, search homes