Australia disrupts possible public beheading terror plot; 15 arrested

MELBOURNE, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Australian authorities have arrested 15 people suspected of planning a public beheading inspired by similar acts broadcast by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the arrests were a result of intelligence indicating a senior Islamic State member, who is also an Australian citizen, had instructed supporters to conduct "demonstration killings" in Australia.

"Quite direct exhortations were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country."

The arrests were made during early morning counter-terrorism raids in Brisbane and Sydney.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione expressed confidence that the terror plot had been successfully disrupted.

"All of those plans that may have been afoot have been thwarted. Today's operation reflects the reality of the threat we actually face."

Thursday's arrests come a week after Australia raised its terror threat alert level from "medium" to "high." At the time, Abbott said there was "no specific intelligence of particular plots."

Abbott dismissed the notion that the disrupted plot had impacted the decision to raise the alert last week.

"The scale and the tempo of anti-terror investigations had been increasing for many, many, months," Abbott said Thursday, "so the decision that was made a week ago to raise the terror threat level was something that was many, many weeks, even months in the making."