Sydney: Agencies
The Australian authorities announced, on Monday, raising the threat level from "possible" to "probable"; This is due to the rise in the power of extremist ideologies after a series of bloody terrorist attacks that the country has recently witnessed.
For his part, the Director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization / Domestic Intelligence, Mike Burgess, said - according to Radio Canada International - "The security environment in Australia is deteriorating and has become more volatile and unpredictable," noting that more Australians are turning to extremism, and that the country is facing an increase in political polarization.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization explained that there is no indication yet of an imminent attack, but there is an increasing threat during the coming year.
Australia has seen an increase in knife attacks in recent months. In April, six people were killed in a knife attack at a shopping mall in Sydney. The 40-year-old perpetrator, who was said to have suffered from mental health problems, was killed. Two days later, an Assyrian church bishop was stabbed in Sydney during a live sermon, and a 16-year-old boy was charged with committing a terrorist act. In early May, a 16-year-old extremist teenager was shot dead by police in the suburbs of Perth (west) after he injured a person in a knife attack.