Australian Police Foil Christmas Terrorist Attack in Melbourne, Arrest Seven

Australian police have arrested a group of Daesh-inspired people that was reportedly plotting attack on Christmas Day in the country's southeastern city of Melbourne.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Police arrested seven people in Melbourne on Friday morning on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack on Christmas Day in the capital of Victoria state.

"In relation to this particular plot we think we’ve got everyone who was involved," Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said as quoted by The Australian on Friday.

The suspected plotters, six men and one woman, allegedly wanted to attack Flinders Street Station, Federation Square and St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, according to the newspaper.

"These are self-radicalised… (but they were) inspired by ISIS [Daesh] terrorists and ISIS propaganda," Ashton said.

The woman and one of the men were released without charges later on Friday. Some of the arrested could be charged with preparing for a terror event, The Australian said.

Earlier this month, two Sydney men were sentenced to 20 years in jail for plotting a Daesh terrorist attack in the Australian capital.

Daesh which occupies vast tracts of Iraq and Syria and is outlawed in many countries including Russia, has gained much notoriety for conducting suicide bombings and other attacks worldwide and recruiting young people via social media.