ISIS extremist who discussed Melbourne bomb plot poses 'serious risk'
The extremist who discussed bombing Melbourne landmarks including Queen Victoria Market is an ISIS supporter based in Pakistan who poses a serious risk to public safety, police say.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther says there are more than 100 Australians at risk of associating with men like this who currently live in and near conflict zones, but it’s not yet clear whether the extremist has made contact with any Australians.
A foreign terror plot to blow up Melbourne landmarks including the Queen Victoria Market was uncovered by a family of "amateur jihadi hunters" in Britain who were in contact with the foreign fighter earlier this year.
“We received information earlier this year. It was online communication between a person believed to be in the Middle East and an individual in Britain posing as an extremist,” Mr Guether said.
“That person did provide instructional advice to the individual in the UK, believing them to be living in Melbourne.
“The information was ultimately shared with our law enforcement security parties who assessed that information and concluded it posed no credible threat to Victoria.”
The alleged terror plan discussed online between parties in the UK and Pakistan was to plant a "sequence of bombs" in the market and then drive the car, fitted with another bomb, into a crowded corner of the building before blowing up the vehicle.
Other targets discussed included St Paul’s Cathedral, Chadstone shopping centre and the William Street law courts precinct and government buildings.
The man in Pakistan gave instructions on how to create a car bomb, and how to select a crowded target area to create "maximum damage".
The plot was hatched over the encrypted messaging service Telegram.
Mr Guenther stressed despite the reports, there was no current threats to the Queen Victoria Market or any other locations across Melbourne or Victoria.
He said while Melbourne was a very attractive target to ISIS affiliates, police were closely monitoring more than 200 persons of interest to thwart any escalation in threat with more than 2500 reports received and investigated in Victoria last year alone.
“Such instructional material is not uncommon. We know the terror groups have been providing similar instructions across cities in the west for several years now using online publication and social media networks, some of which are encrypted,” he said.
“We don't see this changing anytime soon.
“I stress though people should not be unnecessarily concerned.”
UK newspaper The Sun reported in March that a "jihadi hunter" family living in the Midlands was using encrypted apps and social media to engage with fighters, and gather information about their activities.
Their efforts reportedly helped foil a suicide bomb attack on an Armed Forces parade, and an attack on the Queen during a commemorative ceremony in 2015.
Mr Guenther said it was very unlikely any Australians were imitating the UK jihadi hunters but said if that changed he would likely know about it.
“We wouldn’t recommend that members of the public do that. It's a very unsafe practice,” Mr Guenther said.
“The numbers in terms of alleged plots are quite small.”
A spokeswoman for Police Minister Lisa Neville referred inquiries to Victoria Police, as it was an operational matter.
The Australian Federal Police declined to comment.