Melbourne men arrested over alleged Anzac Day terror plot ‘had links to top Australian ISIL recruiter’

The young men arrested on Saturday over alleged plans to attack police officers in Melbourne on Anzac Day reportedly had links to a top Australian ISIL recruiter.

Police are reportedly investigating contact the five men may have had with 23-year-old Neil Prakash, who goes by the jihadist name Abu Khalid al-Kambodi and is the most senior Australian fighting with ISIL, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Mr Prakash has reportedly filled the shoes of Mohammad Ali Baryalei who is believed to have died fighting in Syria last year.

The newspaper reports Mr Prakash may have had direct contact with the Melbourne men recently, possibly forming a link between the alleged plot and the conflict in the Middle East.

Police arrested five men, aged 18 and 19, after executing seven search warrants in the city’s southeast in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The men include 18-year-old Sevdet Besim, who has been charged with conspiring to commit acts in planning preparation for an act of terrorism.

Police have announced they believe the teens were associates of fellow Melbourne teen Numan Haider, who was shot dead by police in Melbourne on September 23 last year after stabbing two counter-terrorism officers.