Anzac Day terror plot 'involved killing cop, shooting rampage'

The foiled Anzac Day terror plot involved running over a police officer, killing him with a knife and then seizing his gun and embarking on a shooting rampage in the streets of Melbourne, according to a report.

The group of teenagers allegedly behind the plot anticipated the rampage would end in their deaths, according to ABC's 7.30 program, citing an unnamed security official.

The alleged plans mirrored those of two Islamic extremists in Britain who used a car to run down a 25-year-old soldier in London in May 2013 before hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives.

Australian counter-terrorism officials are also investigating links between the five teens arrested in Melbourne and a man called Neil Prakash, who is believed to be the chief recruiter of Australians for Islamic State.

Prakash, 23, of Fijian-Indian and Cambodian background, is an Islamic convert who travelled to Syria in early 2013 — and authorities reportedly believe he was crucial to the Anzac Day plot.

The arrest of the Melbourne teens, in an anti-terror raid on Saturday, followed after a month-long operation, police said.

Police said their alleged plot could have been executed any time in the next week after they found knifes and swords in the accused men's homes and it emerged that they were scouting police stations.