Two 'foreign Fighters' Arrested In Australia

SYDNEY, Nov 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 03rd Nov, 2016 ) : Two men were arrested in Australia Thursday on suspicion of breaching the country's foreign fighter laws, with one to be charged with joining the Al-Nusra Front in Syria.

It followed a series of raids across Sydney by the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism team, with the other person detained after allegedly trying to travel to Syria to fight with the Islamic State group.

Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner for counter terrorism Neil Gaughan said it had been a protracted investigation as gathering evidence from Syria was "extremely difficult". "We have arrested these gentlemen as quickly as we possibly could," he said, adding that those returning from either Syria or Iraq could carry out violent acts once back in Australia.

"The challenge for our members is to gather evidence to an appropriate standard to enable a prosecution," he said. A 24-year-old is due to be charged later Thursday with "incursions into foreign states with the intention of engaging in hostile activities" and faces up to 20 years in jail.

Police claim he left for Syria in July 2013 to join Al-Nusra -- the former name of ex-Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front -- before returning to Australia six months later.