A four-month investigation led to police pouncing on the group on Tuesday morning with simultaneous raids in various Sydney suburbs.
A 39-year-old man from St Helen's Park and a 23-year-old from Lidcombe have been charged and will appear in court later on Tuesday. Police allege the older man organized travel and arranged overseas contacts for six Australians to fight in Syria.
This allegedly included fighting with the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra and affiliates of al-Qaeda. NSW commissioner of special operations Catherine Burn told reporters in Sydney the arrests are notable.
Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner of national security Peter Drennan said the men were not involved in any terrorism threat against Australia. But he said people travelling to Syria to fight were engaging in illegal activity and could find themselves associating with terrorists.
Source: Sky News
MNA
END