Three men have been accused by Australian authorities of committing Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks against a Melbourne mosque.
The three are each accused of engaging in a terrorist act during an arson attack which destroyed the Imam Ali Islamic Centre at Fawkner in December, according to federal police.
Two of those men, 25-year-old Ahmed Mohamed and 27-year-old Abdullah Chaarani, are now in custody. The third man allegedly involved in the destruction of the mosque is 29-year-old Hatim Moukhaiber, who was arrested after police pulled over his car at Roxburgh Park on Saturday night.
“We’re not saying that these are just arson attacks,” Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Counter Terrorism Ian McCartney said Sunday. “What we’re going to allege is these were Islamic State-inspired attacks. They were inspired and designed to influence, put fear into a particular community.”