Australian held on terror charge after knife attacks

By Jill Fraser

MELBOURNE, Australia (AA) - A 22-year-old has been charged in Australia with attempted murder and allegedly committing a terrorist offence after an attack in a reserve in a southwest Sydney suburb.

Reports said that when police arrived at the scene, Ihsas Khan allegedly attempted to stab an officer through a window before being placed under arrest.

A large knife was seized for forensic examination.

“This is the new face of terrorism, this is the new face of what we deal with,” Deputy Police Commissioner Cath Burn said at a Sunday morning press conference.

Burn said that police will be alleging Khan was inspired by Daesh at trial.

"We know that this person has strong extremist beliefs," she added.

Fairfax reported Sunday that witnesses heard Khan yelling “someone is going to die tonight” while other witnesses who had tried to intervene said he was yelling "Allah Akbar" as he slashed Wayne Greenhalgh, 59.

The incident occurred just one week after the Daesh terror group called on lone wolves to attack Australians.

"We will be alleging before court that this was an act inspired by ISIS [Daesh], it was a deliberate act, it resulted in a person receiving extremely serious injuries," Burns said.

Khan appeared in Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday where he was denied bail.

Witnesses told the ABC that Greenhalgh ran into a nearby hair salon to flee his assailant, where the husband of the salon owner and a neighbor helped save his life.

Speaking to the press in Brisbane on Sunday, Attorney General George Brandis praised bystanders who intervened “with grave risk to their own lives and safety to assist the victim of the attack”.

“It may very well be that but for the bravery of those citizens who intervened, the victim's life would have been lost,” Brandis said.

He outlined two new anti-terror bills the government will introduce to parliament this week,

The Counter Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill and Criminal Code Amendment High Risk Terrorism Offenders Bill (which are not being introduced in response to Saturday’s attack) will lower the age at which a control order can be applied for from 16 to 14.

They will also enable post-sentence detention for convicted terrorists who are deemed to pose an ongoing risk to public safety.

At a media conference in Parliament House, Canberra, on Sunday afternoon Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull linked the alleged terror attack to the events of 9/11.

He said the attack -- committed on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, may seem “very different”, but connecting them both is a violent ideology.

Turnbull said the nature of terrorism was changing, from attacks organized by groups, such as 9/11, to lone wolf attacks as Saturday’s appeared to be.

He said that collaboration and engagement with the Australian Muslim community is a very important part of the country's fight against terrorism and radicalization.

The Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, has condemned Saturday's attack.

"Regarding yesterday's events in Minto, our position remains firm," he said in a statement Sunday

"[We present] unequivocal condemnation of any terrorist attack that target innocent people and cause panic in the community, and likewise a complete rejection of the ideologies that promote these crimes."