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Islamic militancy
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Meat mincer examined in Australian plot to bring down plane with bomb or poison gas

Security has been increased at Sydney Airport since Thursday because of the plot and has since been increased in all major Australian international and domestic terminals

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Police raided five homes Saturday and removed a domestic grinder and a mincer used to make sausage. Photo: Reuters
Agence France-Presse

Four men accused of plotting to bring down a plane planned to use poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer, reports said Monday, with Australian officials calling preparations “advanced”.

The men – reportedly two Lebanese-Australian fathers and their sons – were arrested in raids across Sydney on Saturday evening.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph said they allegedly planned to carry the device on board a commercial flight from Sydney to a Middle East destination as hand luggage.

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It said the idea was to use wood scrapings and explosive material inside a piece of kitchen equipment such as a mincing machine.

The Sydney Morning Herald also reported that a mincer was being examined, while The Australian newspaper cited multiple sources as saying it was a “non-traditional” device that could have emitted a toxic sulphur-based gas.

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TV footage showed a man being led away by authorities, draped in a blanket. Photo: Channel Nine
TV footage showed a man being led away by authorities, draped in a blanket. Photo: Channel Nine
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