the police speak of a “terrorist act”

Australian police described Tuesday April 16 as“terrorist act” a knife attack committed the day before by a teenager in an Assyrian church in the suburbs of Sydney, which triggered the fury of the faithful and clashes in the street. A bishop and the 16-year-old suspect, who was arrested, are among those taken into custody for “injuries which are not life-threatening” after this attack which occurred Monday evening.

The young man dressed in black approached the altar, raised his right arm and struck the bishop of the Assyrian community Mar Mari Emmanuel with a knife, causing panic and screams among the faithful, according to the images of the religious service broadcast live. “After examining all the elements, I declared that it was a terrorist act”, announced Karen Webb, Police Commissioner of New South Wales, at a press conference. This attack is considered an act of“extremism” religious, she added, specifying that the suspect is “known to the police” but does not appear in any anti-terrorism file.