The army was set to storm the Lindt cafe during the siege

WHILE Man Monis was holding hostages during the fatal Sydney siege, the Australian Army constructed a mock building for commandos at Holsworthy Barracks.

Army practised storming replica Lindt cafe

THE Australian Army made a replica of Sydney’s Lindt Cafe on the day of the Martin Place siege and spent six hours practising storming the building.

Council plans were used to make a mock cafe within hours of Man Haron Monis taking 17 hostages on December 15.

The cafe was erected at a specially designated area at the Holsworthy Army Barracks where commandos worked out how to penetrate the building from different entry points.

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Heavily armed police outside the cafe during the first day of the Sydney siege. Picture: Toby Zerna

It has been revealed the Army constructed a . Picture: Adam Taylor

Hostages run towards armed tactical response police for safety / Picture: AP

The NSW police force were aware of the mock operation and an army liaison officer was inside the police operations centre briefing senior police of the various outcomes from the different strategies being played out at the Holsworthy base.

“Both organisations worked together,” a senior officer said. “The army did not set up the exercise in isolation. It was with the knowledge and help of NSW police.’’

That the army was preparing in case it was needed during the siege will spark debate about the handling of the siege by NSW police.

Gunman Man Monis was killed when police stormed the building, shooting him 13 times after he executed store manager Tori Johnson. Bullet fragments from ricochets killed lawyer Katrina Dawson.

Marcia Mikhael at the window of the Lindt Cafe during the siege. Picture: Seven News

Mikhael broke down on Seven's special Inside The Siege: The Untold Story. Picture: Seven News

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The revelation comes after survivor Marcia Mikhael blasted the police response to the siege in an interview with Seven News.

Mikhael questioned why the operation hadn’t been handed over to the Army to co-ordinate and told of how she had lost confidence in the police while still in the cafe.

“I know there are a lot of officers there (who) probably risked their lives to be there and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being ungrateful to them...but I just think that maybe the Army would’ve been better, more appropriate to be handling this situation,” she said.

“It was a waiting game. They were waiting for him to kill someone or shoot something so they (could) come in. It would be reactive. There was nothing proactive about that operation, nothing,” she said.

At one point during the 16-hour ordeal, Mikhael was forced to communicate Monis’ demands over the phone to police.

The Lindt cafe will reopen next month.

Man Haron Monis / Picture: AAP

The response she received from officials on the other end of the line left her furious and strengthened her opinion that someone else should have been running the operation.

“I actually lost it when someone (police) told me the Prime Minister was a very busy man and he can’t come to the phone. I yelled at him and I just couldn’t believe it...I think I actually said that I don’t care what (Abbott) is doing right now, whether he’s walking his dog or he’s you know playing golf with his mates, I’m sure there’s nothing more important happening in Australia right now than this, and the lives of the people in this cafe. And then I hung up,” she said.

“It was then that I knew that there was not going to be any negotiation and we were just left there. Noone was coming for us, I knew that. They weren’t going to come. So that’s when I lost hope.”