Terrorist attack in Melbourne: Police officer Hassain Khalif Shire Ali, 30, had "inspiring" ties with Isis, police say

A man who stabbed a person to death in an alleged terrorist attack in Melbourne was known to the police and was the brother of a man arrested under terrorist charges last year, Australian authorities said.

Hassain Khalif Shire Ali, 30, born in Somalia, burnt down on Friday a van loaded with gas bottles in a busy shopping district of the city, stabbing three people, one of them fatally, before being shot dead by police.

Police said that "there are links" between Ali and Isis in the form of inspiration, rather than direct contact with the terrorist group. Anti-terrorism investigators raided two properties in the suburbs of Melbourne Saturday morning as part of their investigation.

Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said the man 's brother was arrested last year for planning a bomb attack in Melbourne and that he was currently in jail in the United States. waiting for his trial.

"It's certainly a person we know, as well as the federal authorities, in the fight against terrorism and terrorism-related issues," he told the Sunrise show on Channel 7.

"He is the brother of a delinquent or a suspect that we arrested at the end of last year in connection with the preparation of a terrorist event."

Police were first called for information about a car on fire, but on their arrival she was attacked by the armed man with a knife.

Videos taken by passers-by show a long confrontation between the police and the attacker, while disconcerted customers pass.

The man repeatedly leans on both officers with his knife, while they try to neutralize him with a pepper spray and a stun gun.

A member of the public tries to help the police by throwing a metal shopping cart on the knife while charging it into the street.

Eventually, one of the officers pulls his pistol and shoots the attacker to the chest, which then falls to the ground.

Mr Ashton said the knife and the other three people stabbed by him had been taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, but that one of the victims had died as a result of his injuries.

The police eventually found gas bottles in the killer's vehicle. Isis claimed the attack, the group's propaganda agency Amaq calling the author a "fighter".

Australian media reported that one of the wounded was a businessman called Rod Patterson. Mr. Patterson's wife, Maree, said on social media that he was hurt but that he was "fine with the circumstances."

When firefighters arrived to extinguish the fire, they discovered that there were several canisters of gasoline type "barbecue" in the interior. A team of deminers was then called to secure the scene.

Witnesses reported seeing the man throw an object into his car after crushing and setting it on fire.

Police have not yet confirmed his intentions, but Mr Ashton said it was right to deduce that he was hoping to turn the vehicle into a bomb.

The police officers attacked during the incident suffered only minor injuries and their "cuts and scratches" are handled in a police station in Melbourne.

Mr. Ashton, however, denied allegations that the man allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar!" During the attack and claimed that he had not attempted to behead anyone. One of the victims of stab wounds had suffered "severe head injuries".

The striker was born in Somalia but moved to Australia in the 1990s and recently lived in northwestern Melbourne, the chief commissioner added. He was a "person of interest" to the Victoria State Police and the Australian Federal Intelligence Service.

He also had a minor criminal record and had previously been found guilty of cannabis use and theft.

Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister, condemned "the perverse and cowardly attack" and paid tribute to the courage of the police officers who responded to the call.

"Australians will never be intimidated by these appalling attacks and we will continue to go about our business and enjoy the freedoms terrorists hate," he said in a statement.

Victoria Prime Minister Daniel Andrews praised the courage of the police and members of the public who attempted to arrest the attacker.

"It is a terrible and terrifying thing that has happened in our city today," he said at the same press conference.

«Les Victoriens peuvent être assurés que tous les membres de la police de Victoria sont à la hauteur de la tâche, comme ils l'ont démontré aujourd'hui. Au milieu de la tragédie, vous pouvez trouver une telle fierté dans le travail des passants de venir en aide aux autres.

«En tant que ville et État, nous ne serons pas définis par cet acte diabolique. Nous allons simplement refuser de le faire. Nous sommes plus grands et plus forts que cela.

M. Andrews a également élargi les "pensées et les prières" de la ville et de l'État à toutes les personnes blessées, ainsi que "nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille du défunt".

Le chef de l’opposition, Bill Shorten, qui représente une circonscription de la banlieue nord-ouest de Melbourne, a repris à son compte les propos de M. Andrews.

«Lorsque le mal attaque notre ville, Melbourne se tient ensemble», a-t-il tweeté. "Une fois de plus, les Victoriens sont émerveillés par nos extraordinaires policiers, qui ont répondu rapidement, bravement et professionnellement cet après-midi, ainsi que par les passants dont le premier instinct était d'aller au secours des autres."

Les Melburniens doivent refuser d'être intimidés par l'attaque terroriste et poursuivre leur cours normalement au cours du week-end, a conclu le commissaire en chef.

Des policiers supplémentaires seront en poste lors d'événements publics importants, notamment des matches de football et des commémorations du jour du Souvenir, mais il n'y avait "aucune menace permanente à notre connaissance."

Toute personne ayant assisté à l'attaque ou ayant pris des photos et des vidéos devrait les partager avec la police de Victoria, a-t-il ajouté.