ISIS claims responsibility for Melbourne siege that left two dead
Police are treating a hostage situation as an act of terrorism after the incident left a man and the perpetrator dead and three police officers injured
A bomb squad member walks outside the site of a shooting in Brighton, Melbourne, Australia
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday police were treating a deadly siege in the southern city of Melbourne as an "act of terrorism" after a claim by the Islamic State group that one of its fighters was the gunman responsible.
On Monday night, gunman Yacqub Khayre took a woman hostage in an apartment building in Brighton, 11km south-east of Melbourne’s central business district after killing an employee in the foyer.
Police shot Khayre dead, with three police officers being injured during the siege. The hostage was unharmed.
Hours later ISIS published a statement via a news agency linked to the group, saying the attack had been carried out by one of its soldiers.
Senior officials confirmed that Khayre had been acquitted of a plot to attack a Sydney army base in 2009 and was on parole for a violent home invasion at the time of Monday's siege.
"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.
"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.
Victoria police confirmed on Tuesday morning they were treating the siege as an act of terrorism. The state’s chief police commissioner, Graham Ashton, said it was still not certain as to whether it was a planned attack.
“We are treating it as an act of terrorism, we believe that this person was there with those sorts of intentions,” Ashton said, adding “We don’t know if it was something planned or just spontaneous at this stage.”
Ashton said two of his officers had required surgery after being injured during the siege.
“We’ve got three officers wounded at the scene in the gunfight with this individual, fortunately they look like they’re OK,” he said.
Australia, a staunch ally of the United States, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East, or their supporters, since 2014. Police have foiled several major plots in recent years.
