CBS News – The siege of a downtown Sydney cafe where a a suspected Iranian-born Islamic extremist had been holding numerous hostages ended early Tuesday morning local time after police raided the building.
Earlier, several hostages held in the downtown cafe could be seen fleing their captivity after a series of loud bangs were heard.
Television footage later showed police storming the location. Apparent gunfire could be heard and later apparent hostages could be seen being carried out by officials. The fate of the suspected gunman and remaining hostages is still unclear.
At least three people were seen after the raid being removed from the scene on stretchers. It is unclear if they were hostages or the suspect.
The suspect, who first took the cafe during Monday morning rush hour, was identified by police as local Muslim cleric Man Haron Monis, who had taken to calling himself “Sheikh Haron.” Monis is an Iranian refugee in his late 40s who has long espoused extremist views in Australia.
There is no known connection between Monis and any potential plot in the U.S., a law enforcement source told CBS News.
Last year, he was sentenced to 300 hours of community service for writing offensive letters to families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
He was later charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. Earlier this year, he was charged with the sexual assault of a woman in 2002. He has been out on bail on the charges.
A U.S. intelligence source confirmed to CBS News that the man was known to authorities in the country and has been arrested previously for extremist activity.
“This is a one-off random individual. It’s not a concerted terrorism event or act. It’s a damaged goods individual who’s done something outrageous,” his former lawyer, Manny Conditsis, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “His ideology is just so strong and so powerful that it clouds his vision for common sense and objectiveness.”
Monis was originally a Shia, the national religion of his native Iran, but appeared to be somehow in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a Sunni extremist group that has frequently targeted Shias in its campaign.
CBS News partner Ten Eyewitness News reports it spoke directly to two hostages inside the cafe, who confirmed two demands from the gunman: He wants an ISIS flag delivered to the cafe, and wants to speak to the Prime Minster Tony Abbott.
Videos of at least three people who appeared to be inside the cafe surfaced on YouTube. In the videos, women identified themselves as hostages and relayed the demands of the hostage taker, who the women said wanted it to be known that this was an “attack on Australia by the Islamic State.”
“This is almost the prototypical type attack that we believe lone-wolves to be capable of,” CBS News security correspondent Bob Orr said on “CBS This Morning.” He said it appeared to be the “most dangerous type of threat to try and prevent.”
Australia has been a frequent partner of the U.S. in its recent military campaigns in the Mideast. It has also vocally backed the U.S.-led coalition combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
“This is a very disturbing incident,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott said. “It is profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation.”
Australia’s government raised the country’s terror warning level in September in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of ISIS.
Counterterror law enforcement teams later conducted dozens of raids and made several arrests in Australia’s three largest cities – Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. One man arrested during a series of raids in Sydney was charged with conspiring with an ISIS leader in Syria to behead a random person in downtown Sydney.
ISIS, which now holds a third of Syria and Iraq, has threatened Australia in the past. In September, ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani issued an audio message urging so-called “lone wolf” attacks abroad, specifically mentioning Australia. Al-Adnani told Muslims to kill all “disbelievers,” whether they be civilians or soldiers.
