a “terrorist act”, according to the police

On Tuesday April 16, the Australian police described“terrorist act” the knife attack committed on Monday by a teenager in an Assyrian church in the suburbs of Sydney (Australia). New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb added at a press conference “that it was about (…) of religious extremism. The suspect, a 16-year-old boy arrested Monday, is “known to the police” but does not appear in any anti-terrorism file.

For Mike Burgess, head of Australian intelligence, “There is no indication that anyone else was involved, but the investigation remains open.” For the moment, he does not consider it necessary to raise the level of terrorist threat to the country.

Clashes on Monday evening

The young man approached the altar and struck the bishop of the Assyrian community, Mar Mari Emmanuel, with a knife, causing panic among the faithful, according to images of the religious service broadcast live. The clergyman of this branch of Eastern Christians, stabbed in the head and chest, is in stable condition and his health “is improving”, the church said Tuesday. Three other people suffered minor injuries during the attack, without life-threatening injuries.

On Monday evening, around 30 people received treatment after a riot that occurred outside the church. For three hours, more than 500 demonstrators opposed riot police trying to prevent them from entering the church and lynching the teenager. Calm returned in the evening, but additional police officers were deployed in this neighborhood known for welcoming members of the small Assyrian Christian community who fled persecution and war in Iraq and Syria.