MELBOURNE: An Australian jury on Thursday found three men guilty of terrorism after they set fire to a mosque in the southern state of Victoria in December 2016.
Sunni Muslims Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullah Chaarani and Hatim Moukhaiber set fire to a Shiite mosque in a suburb of Melbourne.
Two had plotted an attack in central Melbourne just weeks later and were convicted of conspiring to plan a terrorist attack last year. They had bought machetes and explosives and tried to get a gun license before they were arrested, according to media reports.
The three have yet to be sentenced.
Australia, a staunch US ally that sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East or their supporters.
Last year, a Somali-born man set fire to a pickup truck laden with gas cylinders in the center of Melbourne and stabbed three people, killing one, before he was shot by police.
Earlier this month, an Australian court found a man guilty of plotting to blow up an Etihad Airways flight out of Sydney under the orders of Daesh.
Three convicted of terrorism over Australian mosque arson attack
Three convicted of terrorism over Australian mosque arson attack
- The convicted were planning an attack in central Melbourne
- Australian court sentenced a man earlier for planning to blow up an Etihad Airways plane
