Security ramped up after terror attack plot on Australian Parliament House and leaders revealed

Xinhua

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Australian authority on Friday has ramped up security in the capital of Canberra after potential terror attack plot against the Parliament House and the country's top leaders was traced.

According to related intelligence officers, intelligence departments and police have intercepted "chatter" regarding random attacks on the heart of the country and authority fears Prime Minister Tony Abbott and other top government officials are the main targets.

The picked up intelligence also shows the country's main anti- terrorism unit ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organization) was listed as a major target.

The information was confirmed by Abbott himself when he spoke on the Today show this morning.

In his interview, he said the whole country is at risk and more raids are possible after Thursday's security operations in Sydney and Brisbane.

"Obviously we are in a heightened stage of vigilance,"said the prime minister, adding there's a "key individual" acting inside the "ISIL death cult" in Syria sending strong orders back to networks in Australia to carry out terrorist attacks.

"The advice of our police and security agencies was that an attack of the nature could take place within days, that's why they acted with great determination," he said.

ASIO, and Australian Federal Police launched a series of raids in Sydney and Brisbane on Thursday in what has been described as the nation's biggest counter-terrorism operation.

Documents expected to be tendered to a Sydney court Thursday will reveal that the anti-terror raids, which involved 800 police officers in Sydney, and 70 in Brisbane, were aimed at a cell which planned to behead a member of the public in Sydney.

The documents are expected to claim that the plan involved snatching a random member of the public in Sydney, draping them in an Islamic State flag, beheading them on camera, in a public area such as Martin's Place in Sydney's CBD, and then uploading the images on social media.

The raids sparked wide fury in the Muslim community in Sydney and around 100 residents of the affected area staged a protest at the Lakemba station, accusing the police were terrorising Muslims in the country.

In response, Abbott said he doesn't isolate any community and " we are all in this together".

Up to now no similar raids were staged in Australia's second largest city of Melbourne, but Victorian policy has confirmed supporters of ISIL are operating in the southeastern state.

According to media reports, ASIO has seized passports of relatives and associates of Melbourne terror cell leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika who is currently serving 15 years in jail for charges of trying to plant a bomb in a stadium in 2009.