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ISIS flagReuters

A Sydney, Australia, man has been charged with committing a terrorist attack and attempted murder that police said seemed to have been inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS) group, Reuters reports.

The 22-year-old suspect repeatedly stabbed a stranger as he was walking through a park in the incident on Saturday, and attacked police who arrived, making statements that they said led them to conclude he was motivated by ISIS.

"We know this person has strong extremist beliefs inspired by ISIS," New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said at a news conference, according to Reuters.

The 59-year-old victim was in critical but stable condition, Burn said. Names of both men have been withheld by the police.

Australia, like many countries, has been under the threat of home-grown radicals. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull warned that the threat of a terror attack in Australia is "real".

There have been several "lone wolf" attacks in the country in recent years, including a 2014 cafe siege in Sydney that left two hostages and the gunman dead. Also in 2014, police shot dead a Melbourne teenager after he stabbed two counter-terrorism officers.

In 2015, a 15-year-old boy fired on an accountant at a police headquarters in a Sydney suburb and was killed in a gunfight with police.

In September 2014, Australian police arrested 15 terror suspects of an ISIS cell that was planning to behead a random member of the public in a campaign of terror.