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International desk: A fatal shootout claimed by the Islamic State group was being treated as a terrorist attack by Australian police Tuesday, as the prime minister condemned it as “shocking and cowardly”.<\/p>\nInternational desk: A fatal shootout claimed by the Islamic State group was being treated as a terrorist attack by Australian police Tuesday, as the prime minister condemned it as “shocking and cowardly”.<\/p>\n
A man of Somali background was killed in a gun battle with police when he opened fire following an hour-long standoff after taking a female escort hostage at a serviced apartment block in Melbourne on Monday evening.<\/p>\n
It is alleged 29-year-old Yacqub Khayre, linked to a 2009 terror plot targeting an Australian army barracks, had first murdered a Chinese-born Australian man working as a receptionist in the foyer.<\/p>\n
Police said he made statements “around Al-Qaeda” and called a local television station making similar comments, reportedly: “This is for IS, this is for Al-Qaeda.”<\/p>\n
Authorities labelled the attack as a terrorism incident but added that investigations were still ongoing into whether it was planned or random.<\/p>\n
“We're not seeing anything indicating that he's got some message from overseas to do this at all but, again, early days,” said Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton.<\/p>\n
“We've got material that's seized. We'll go through that and work it out.”<\/p>\n
He said it was possible that Khayre may have been attempting to lure police by taking the escort — reportedly a sex worker — hostage.<\/p>\n
“We still don't know exactly whether that was the case,” Ashton said, but police believed he was acting alone and there was no ongoing threat.<\/p>\n
The Amaq news agency — which is affiliated with IS — carried a statement claiming responsibility.<\/p>\n
“The executor of the Melbourne attack in Australia is a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried out the attack in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition states,” it said.<\/p>\n
Ashton said IS “always tend to jump up and claim responsibility every time something happens” and it was too early to determine whether they were involved.<\/p>\n
Authorities had responded to reports of an explosion at the building — which turned out to be a gunshot — in the affluent beach suburb of Brighton and arrived to find a dead body in the foyer.<\/p>\n
“Subsequently he (Khayre) came out of the apartment with a shotgun and commenced to fire at police at the entryway to the apartments,” Ashton said.<\/p>\n
“He's exchanged gunfire with police and has been fatally shot by police at the scene.”<\/p>\n
The escort escaped unharmed but three police were wounded in the firefight, although their injuries were not life-threatening.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the attack underlined the need to be constantly vigilant.<\/p>\n
“This terrorist attack by a known criminal, a man who was only recently released on parole, is a shocking, cowardly crime,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It is a terrorist attack and it underlines the need for us to be constantly vigilant, never to be deterred, always defiant, in the face of Islamist terrorism.”<\/p>\n
Australian officials have grown increasingly concerned over the threat of extremist attacks.<\/p>\n
They say they have prevented 12 attacks on home soil since the threat level was raised in September 2014, including a foiled Christmas Day plot in Melbourne last year, with more than 60 people charged.<\/p>\n
But four have gone ahead, including the murder of a Sydney police employee in 2015 by a 15-year-old boy.<\/p>\n
Khayre, whose parents were refugees from Somalia, was known to police and had a long criminal history.<\/p>\n
He was charged and acquitted over a foiled plot to attack the Holsworthy Army barracks in Sydney in 2009.<\/p>\n
Three of his co-accused were found guilty of planning the terrorist assault as payback for Australia's military action in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Khayre was released on parole late last year after serving time for intent to cause injury and arson, which Turnbull said was a concern given his background and something that would be reviewed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International desk: A fatal shootout claimed by the Islamic State group was being treated as a terrorist attack by Australian police Tuesday, as the prime minister condemned it as “shocking and cowardly”. A man of Somali background was killed in a gun battle with police when he opened fire following an hour-long standoff after taking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n