Updated
Two men have been accused of preparing a terror act to be carried out in Sydney in the name of the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Police said they believed the pair had been planning to target someone in an imminent deadly attack.
The men, aged 24 and 25, were arrested in Sydney's west in a raid on Tuesday and have been charged with undertaking acts in preparation or planning for a terrorist act.
A tip-off alerted authorities and NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said counter-terrorism officers acted quickly.
We believe that the men were potentially going to harm somebody, maybe even kill somebody, and potentially using one of the items that we identified and recovered yesterday, potentially a knife.
AFP Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan
"The type of act that we will allege that was going to be undertaken is consistent with the messaging coming out of IS," she said.
"I would like to however reassure the community that we are of the view that there is no further imminent attack relating to these two men."
It is alleged that a number of items were found in the Fairfield home raided by police.
"When we did the search of the premises, a number of items were located, including a machete, a hunting knife, a home-made flag representing the prescribed terrorist organisation IS, and also a video which depicted a man talking about carrying out an attack," Deputy Commissioner Burn said.
"We will allege that both of these men were preparing to do this act yesterday.
Deputy Commissioner Burn said a video allegedly seized in the raid was what made police believe the attack was imminent.
"One of the items that will be introduced into evidence is a video, and in that video, we will allege that one of the men indicated that an attack was going to be carried out," she said.
"We can't go into the details of what was actually said in that message. However, the intent is clear and the intent is what I have told you today.
"The concerning thing about this clearly is that this represents the nature of the environment that we currently face. This is indicative of the threat that we now have to live with."
Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said NSW and federal officers acted together as quickly as they could.
"We believe that the men were potentially going to harm somebody, maybe even kill somebody, and potentially using one of the items that we identified and recovered yesterday, potentially a knife," he said.
NSW Premier Mike Baird thanked counter-terrorism police, describing the alleged plot as "beyond disturbing". He also said people should remain vigilant.
"If you see anything suspicious ring it in, because ultimately together we have the capacity to defeat this," he said.
"While our forces continue to do a first-class job, all of us have a role to play in this and I think that's what I want to continue to see.
"Certainly something catastrophic was avoided yesterday and for that we should be very thankful."
The two men will appear in Fairfield Local Court later today.
The arrests were made by the Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce, which has been investigating Australians suspected of plotting terrorism attacks on home soil, or Australians with links to overseas terrorists.
The taskforce has arrested about a dozen people, including 22-year-old Omarjan Azari who has been accused of plotting a campaign of random beheadings of members of the public in Sydney and Brisbane.
Azari remains in jail.
Topics: police, sydney-2000, fairfield-2165
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