Caravan Loaded With Explosives Found In Sydney, Jewish Synagogue Is Possible Target

NEW YORK (VINnews) — The spate of antisemitic incidents in Australia has reached menacing levels, as Sydney police reported Tuesday that a caravan laden with explosives had been found in Sydney’s north-west suburb. Notes found at the site indicated that a Jewish synagogue could be a target, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Official media sources questioned the fact that the explosives had been found nine days ago, but the police did not deem is necessary to make any announcement until the investigation by the country’s elite anti-terror team had leaked to the media.

The abandoned caravan filled with explosives was discovered by a local man who alerted police. The Powergel explosives, believed to have been stolen from a mine site, were powerful enough to create a 40-metre blast wave.

The address of a synagogue was found in the caravan, police confirmed, and security agencies were called in as the caravan was seized.

“There’s only one way of calling it out and that is terrorism,” New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns said.

Australia’s deputy police commissioner Dave Hudson said that, “This is an ongoing investigation and is being taken seriously with all lines of inquiry being pursued,” but added that, “there is no ongoing threat to the community.”

Hudson admitted that “The discovery and the detection of the caravan with an amount of explosives was not going to be used in the normal antisemitic attack that we have seen occur in Sydney, such as graffiti and arson attacks. This is certainly an escalation of that with the use of explosives that have the potential to cause a great deal of damage,” Hudson said.

He added that the threat to the community had not been eliminated, but “mitigated”.

Minns added that “The full resources of the state of NSW and NSW Police have been deployed to confront this very serious threat to our community,” Minns said.