Current Events & Trends: Islamist attacks Australian police after fatwa

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Islamist attacks Australian police after fatwa

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On Sept. 24, 2014, only days after thwarted terror attacks in Australia (see "Islamic State Leaders Seek to Spread Terror to the West"), a young Islamist militant attacked two police officers in the Australian state of Victoria. The officers were wounded and are recovering in hospital care, while the attacker was shot dead.

The Daily Telegraph in Australia reports that the attacker was a known threat and "a person of interest in a counterterrorism operation aimed at detaining and questioning—and had been under surveillance in relation to threats" (Simon Benson, "Islamic Extremist Shot Dead, Two Police Officers Stabbed Outside Endeavour Hills Police Station in Victoria," Sept. 24, 2014).

The attack came after Abu Muhammad al-Adnani ash-Shami of the Islamic State terrorist organization proclaimed a fatwa ordering adherents in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe to kill non-Muslims.

Government officials in Australia say the threat is real. Australian Attorney-General George Brandis was quoted as saying, "We have to take the threat of ISIL [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant] very seriously because, as the Prime Minister has been saying all along, these people have set their face against the West in the most belligerent imaginable way" ("'We Must Take ISIL Threat Seriously,' Says Attorney-General," Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sept. 23, 2014).

Please read "One Nation Under Allah?" of this issue to learn more about the threat radical Islam poses to the West. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph [Australia], Australian Broadcasting Corporation.)