Australia will work with international security agencies to assess global extremism after a stabbing at a church in Sydney.
The attack, in which a 16-year-old boy was arrested, is being treated as an act of terrorism, according to the police.
A bishop, a parish priest and several worshippers were injured Monday during a sermon that was being live-streamed.
The teenage suspect was subdued by worshippers and arrested by the police.
Australian investigators believe the alleged attacker was motivated by religious extremism.
Declaring the attack a terrorist incident gives investigators greater powers and resources to probe the precise motivations of the alleged attacker.
Australian intelligence agencies will work with their Five Eyes security alliance partners, including Canada and the U.S., to assess the global threat of extremism.
Video of the service at the Assyrian Orthodox Church has shown an individual walking toward the altar.
The alleged assailant then lunges at a clergyman and appears to stab him several times before churchgoers rush in to help. There are screams of horror from the congregation at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, a prominent Christian leader, was among those who were injured, along with a parish priest and a small number of worshippers. None of the victims have life-threatening injuries.
Outside the church, a large crowd angry at the attack clashed with the police. “Bring him out!” they chanted, calling for retribution against the teenage suspect.
A group of leaders from different faiths met with government officials and called for calm in the community. Western Sydney is one of Australia’s most culturally and religiously diverse regions.
“There is no place for violence in our community. There is no place for violent extremism," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters Tuesday. "We are a peace-loving nation. This is a time to unite (and) not divide as a community and as a country.”
Albanese was scheduled to meet with his national security advisers later on Tuesday in Canberra.
Australia’s official national terror threat level remains at "possible," the second lowest in a five-category alert system. A government advisory states that “there are a small number of people in Australia and overseas who want to cause Australia harm.”
The church stabbings follow the murders of six people in a separate knife attack in a Sydney shopping center over the weekend. The attacker, a 40-year-old man from Queensland state with mental health issues, was shot dead at the scene by a police officer.
Among the injured is a 9-month-old baby girl, who remains in hospital. The infant’s mother was killed in Saturday’s rampage. It is not being treated as a terrorism-related attack.
