“At least four individuals, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church, were injured during a service that was being live-streamed in the western Sydney suburb of Wakeley on Monday. The attack occurred, resulting in injuries to multiple worshippers, highlighting the severity of the incident.”
“Australian police confirmed on Tuesday that the knife attack during a service at an Assyrian church in Sydney, which injured a bishop, was indeed a terrorist act fueled by suspected religious extremism. The announcement underscores the gravity of the incident and raises concerns about religiously motivated violence in the region.”
Police arrested a male teenager at the scene on Monday and were forced to hold him at the church for his own safety as the crowd of worshippers gathered outside.”We believe there are elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism,” New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said during a press conference.
After consideration of all the material, I declared that it was a terrorist incident.”Police said there was “a degree of premeditation” as the male attacker travelled to the church, far from his home, with a knife. But Webb said police at this early stage of the investigation believe the attacker was acting alone.Emergency crews said they attended around 30 people after the clash outside the church, and seven were taken to hospitals with injuries. Several police were hospitalised with injuries and 20 police vehicles were damaged, Webb said.It was the second major stabbing attack in just three days in Australia’s most populous city after six people were killed and 12 injured in a knife attack at a beachside mall in the Bondi area on Saturday.
