Sydney Church Stabbing: Australia Says Attack On Bishop A 'Religious Motivated Terrorist Incident'

sydney church stabbing australia says attack on bishop mar mari emmanuel a religious motivated terrorist incident

SYDNEY, April 16 (Reuters) – Australian police on Tuesday said a knife attack on an Assyrian church bishop and some followers in Sydney was a terrorist act motivated by suspected religious extremism, as the country reeled from a second stabbing incident in three days.

At least four people were wounded in the attack, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church, when a man lunged at him with a knife during a service live-streamed on Monday.

The incident at the western Sydney suburb of Wakeley triggered clashes outside the church between police and an angry crowd of the bishop’s followers who demanded the attacker be handed over to them.

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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.”

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Police said there was 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 to around 30 people after the clash outside the church, and seven were taken to hospitals with injuries. Several police were also 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.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no place in Australia for violent extremism. “We’re a peace-loving nation. This is a time to unite, not divide, as a community, and as a country,” he said during a media conference.