Australia police arrest two 'terror 'suspects

Armed New South Wales police officers in Sydney (December 2014)

Police have been on a state of heightened alert in Sydney since the end of last year

Counter-terrorism police in the Australian city of Sydney have arrested two men who were allegedly planning an imminent attack.

The pair, aged 24 and 26, are due to appear in court later on Wednesday.

A hunting knife and an Islamic State flag were seized from them, police say.

Australia has been on a terror alert since last year. In December two out of 18 hostages held hostage by gunman Man Haron Monis were killed along with him when police stormed a cafe in Sydney.

Police said that an Islamic State (IS) flag had been found at the home of the suspects in the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield, when it was raided on Tuesday.

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Deputy NSW Police Commissioner Catherine Burn: "We believe that the men were potentially going to harm somebody - maybe even kill somebody"

"We will allege that both of these men were preparing to do this act yesterday [Tuesday]," said New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn.

She said that the arrests were "indicative of the threat" the security agencies now have to deal with.

A video was also found in the home of the pair which police said featured details about committing a terror attack in the name of IS.

The video "depicted a man talking about carrying out an attack", Deputy Commissioner Burn said.

She said that pair were not previously known by police and that counter-terrorism officers were only aware of them when they received information on Tuesday, forcing them to act immediately.

'Plot foiled'

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Sydney says that the latest arrests are not the first case involving an alleged plan to carry out a public killing in Australia.

In September a man was arrested and charged in connection with a plot to behead a member of the public and drape them in an Islamic State flag in the centre of Sydney.

The arrests of the pair were related to a series of counter-terrorism raids throughout that month, officials said.

New South Wales police officers place marker cones over potential evidence among shattered glass during their investigation into the Sydney cafe siege (December 2014)

Australian police say that in recent months they have foiled numerous terror plots

Armed New South Wales police officer in Sydney (December 2014)

Two people were killed along with gunman Man Haron Monis when police stormed a cafe he had occupied in central Sydney

A volunteer removes flowers next to a photo showing Katrina Dawson (L) and Tori Johnson (R) at a memorial site outside the Lindt cafe in Sydney on December 23, 2014,

The cafe siege in December caused an outpouring of public grief and anger

After raids in Sydney and Brisbane, police said they had foiled a plot to "commit violent acts" in Australia.

At least 11 people have now been arrested and charged with terrorism-related offences since the start of the campaign, which began soon after Australia's terror threat level was raised to "high" for the first time.

Many of those targeted in the raids are alleged to be linked to or supportive of IS, and are accused of helping people travel overseas to fight with extremists.