Caravan laden with explosives found in Sydney allegedly intended for antisemitic attack

More than 100 counter-terrorism police are investigating after a caravan was found laden with explosives at a residential property in greater Sydney with indications the explosives would be used in an antisemitic attack, Report informs via The Guardian.

Police said they had found the caravan on a property in Dural, on the outskirts of Sydney on 19 January after a report was made.

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, told reporters on Wednesday that it had the potential to have led to a “mass casualty event”.

“There will be absolutely no tolerance under any circumstances for these acts of criminal violence in our community,” he said.

NSW deputy police commissioner David Hudson said that some people on the “periphery” of the incident had been arrested, and that the risk had been mitigated, but not yet eliminated. He also said the incident may be linked to some people already charged for their alleged involvement in the spate of recent antisemitic attacks.

“We believe there is some connection between some of the targets we’ve charged under Strike Force Pearl, and this particular investigation,” he said.

Hudson told reporters on Wednesday the caravan laden with explosives represented a different level of danger from the attacks seen recently in Sydney, such as graffiti and arson attacks.

“This is certainly an escalation of that with the use of explosives that have the potential to cause a great deal of damage.”

Asked how much damage the explosives could have caused, Hudson estimated the blast zone could have been 40 meters in diameter.

Hudson said the joint counter-terrorism team – including the NSW police force, the Australian federal police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation – were investigating the incident.

Hudson said over the past 10 days the police investigation had progressed, however he said “there is a lot to do.”