Melbourne attack an act of terrorism, Australian police say

Police operatives in Australia say the deadly siege in the southern city of Melbourne which saw a man take a woman hostage before engaging three police officers in a gun duel before he was killed is an act of terrorism.

According to police sources, the attacker, Yacqub Khayre was acquitted of a plot to attack a Sydney army base in 2009, even as ISIL claims that one of its fighters was responsible for the Melbourne attack.

“This terrorist attack by a known criminal, a man who was only recently released on parole, is a shocking, cowardly crime,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in the capital, Canberra.

Read also: AUSTRALIA: Gun wielding hostage taker shot dead by cops

“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,” he said.

During the attack, Victoria state police went to the building where Khayre took a woman hostage and tried to negotiate with him after the woman called emergency services saying she was being held hostage.

According to deputy commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters, after negotiations failed, the man emerged and began shooting at police, injuring three officers before he was shot dead.

 

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