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2014 Sydney hostage crisis

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  • 2014 Sydney hostage crisis

    Martin Place cafe siege | Sydney CBD hostages at Lindt cafe

    Hostage situation reportedly unfolding in Sydney chocolate shop | Fox News

    Thoughts with the ozzies this evening. Wonder when this will come to our shores?

  • #2
    Heres hoping the Aussies can pull the rabbit out of the hat and save the civvies.

    Comment


    • #3
      Live Audio

      NSW GRN - Greater Sydney Area Live Audio Feed

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      • #4
        Prayers sent
        Chimo

        Comment


        • #5
          I hope the civilians are safe.

          Infosys employee among hostages at Sydney cafe under siege
          Last edited by Oracle; 15 Dec 14,, 11:31.
          Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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          • #6
            So far 5 hostages escaped and many still held inside.. prayers for their safety.

            Comment


            • #7
              I just hope this is not some sort of diversion for an action elsewhere in Australia.

              Cheers!...on the rocks!!

              Comment


              • #8
                Sydney Hostage Siege:

                Sydney Hostage Siege: Four Bombs Claim
                Sky NewsSky News – 9 minutes ago
                Share1341
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                Coming to a city near you



                Sydney Hostage Siege: Four Bombs ClaimView Photo
                Sydney Hostage Siege: Four Bombs Claim

                A gunman has taken up to 20 people hostage in a cafe in Sydney's financial district.
                Two Arabic flags similar to those used by Islamic State have been seen inside the Lindt cafe in Martin Place.
                Channel Ten has spoken to two hostages who say the gunman claims to have four bombs - two inside the cafe and two in the financial district.
                Police are investigating reports the assailant has used hostages' social media accounts to demand a meeting with Australian Prime Minster Tony Abbott.
                It is now thought officers know the identity of the man - and that he was previously known to the Sydney force.
                Some of the hostages have spoken to their families on mobile phones - while five, three male customers and two female staff, have managed to escape since the siege began more than 11 hours ago.
                Journalist Chris Reason, who has a view of the cafe from the Channel 7 building, said the gunman was "extremely agitated" when the hostages fled .
                But he told Sky News the gunman had now "switched out the lights" so the cafe had "gone completely black".
                "We can see very little of what is going on inside, which is obviously not good news," said Mr Reason.
                "From our position over the last couple of hours we have counted 15 hostages in total. Five of those have escaped.
                "They are all ages, all demographics. Fortunately no children that we could see."
                Mr Reason said the gunman had been forcing hostages to stand at the window with their hands against the glass - and that they were rotated every two hours.
                One woman in that position looked like she had been "crying her heart out", he said - while others looked "exhausted" and "absolutely petrified".
                :: Follow live updates of the siege
                Australian police said negotiators had been in contact with the "armed offender" - but refused to speculate on his motivation.
                The gunman - who has contacted several media outlets from the cafe and reportedly wants an IS flag delivered there - has been seen using hostages as human shields.
                New South Wales Police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn described it as a "sensitive negotiation" and said there was nothing to suggest anyone had been harmed.
                Food has now been taken into the cafe for the hostages.
                Channel 9 News reporter Mark Burrows told Sky News the gunman is "quite well known to the media in Sydney".
                He said Channel 9 News received calls from two women being held hostage - and that the gunman could be heard in the background stating his demands.
                One of the women appeared "remarkably calm and cool" and asked Mr Burrows to pass a message to her husband.
                The other woman who called was "agitated because she didn't think anything was happening".
                Mr Burrows said it was a trademark of New South Wales Police that they allow negotiations to go "on and on and on ... They are not worried about speeding things up".
                Martin Place - home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, commercial banks and close to the New South Wales state parliament - has been closed off and up to 100 heavily armed police are surrounding the area.
                Earlier, live television footage showed patrons inside the cafe standing with their hands pressed against the windows.
                Hostages were also seen holding a black flag with white Arabic text.
                According to reports, the gunman, who is wearing a black headband with white writing, walked into the cafe just before 10am local time.
                A Lindt executive said there were about 10 staff and "probably 30 customers" in the cafe - but police later said the number was "not as high as 30", although they did not give further details.
                The Australian Prime Minister said he has convened the National Security Committee for emergency briefings following the "hostage-taking situation".
                "This is obviously a deeply concerning incident but all Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner," said Mr Abbott.
                Mr Abbott said he did not yet know the motivation of those holding the hostages , adding: "Our thoughts and prayers must above all go out to the individuals who are caught up in this.
                "I can think of almost nothing more distressing or terrifying than to be caught up in such a situation, and our hearts go out to those people."
                Police have now confirmed they are working "on a footing" it is a terrorist incident - but they remain confident a peaceful resolution can be achieved.
                Several buildings in the area have been evacuated, including the 7 News office opposite the cafe, and staff at the Reserve Bank of Australia are in lockdown inside the building. All are said to be safe.
                Meanwhile, Sydney Opera House has been evacuated after a suspicious package was reportedly found not long after the police operation in the financial district began.
                Police confirmed they were dealing with an "incident" there, but said it was not linked to events at the cafe.
                In a separate development, a 25-year-old man was arrested on alleged terrorism offences in the city just a few hours before the siege began.
                He was seized as part of "continuing investigations into the planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil and the facilitation of travel of Australian citizens to Syria to engage in armed combat".
                The arrest - reportedly as he left a prayer hall - comes after the Australian government in September raised its terror threat level and conducted large-scale counter-terror raids across the country

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by lemontree View Post
                  I just hope this is not some sort of diversion for an action elsewhere in Australia.
                  Unlikely LT. The guy is a rank amateur. He didn't even have a proper ISIS flag - I think he had to ask for one to be brought in for him and it isn't the right type. If he was hard core there would be bodies and it would be a decent target. He is attention seeking. Part of me hopes he gets his head blown off as a warning to others who think there is a 'low risk' option here, but then there is the 'creating a martyr' bit. Not sure which I prefer.

                  This thing has received blanket media coverage here (and I mean blanket) with networks - especially the commercial ones - falling over each other to report all the nothing that has been going on for 12 hours now. Every 5 minutes some 'expert' is speculation on the speculations of some idiot who doesn't know shit. The government spent the first half of the day running around like someone just declared war.

                  Here is something I wrote on a Australian website. it is pretty much in line with the feelings there (though we have a lower ratio of dickheads than the bulk of the populace):

                  Fine work by the police so far. Kudos to them. Tough job.

                  Pretty shit performance by everyone else, especially the media, with the Government running a decent second. I'm betting this is a lone nutjob. Some loser who wants to make a big name for himself. He has been given that on a plate. Any of his loser mates or just other losers watching on will have seen blanket media coverage & the PM & cabinet scurrying around as if ISIS just seized the NSW State Parliament.

                  Media should have given updates, not blanket coverage, like they did when that guy actually killed his mate & then holed up in Melbourne a few weeks back. The PM should have given a short statement indicating he was being briefed & would act according to advice. No press releases on meetings or Cabinet ministers scurrying around.

                  Now our little wannabes know that they can stop the entire nation without having to shed a drop of blood - including their own. Wonderful!
                  I would add that this going worldwide simply adds to the allure of a repeat performance. Thank you worldwide media.
                  sigpic

                  Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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                  • #10
                    Well what a fucked up day today was. I was about 150km South of Sydney seeing clients when i get a text message from my partner saying 'theres terrorists in Martin Place a block away' on her first day back from maternity leave.

                    I do a U turn, call the boss and tell him that i'm taking the day off and why and made record time back into the city comfortable in the fact that if i got pulled over for speeding all i would need to do was show the text conversation with the missus and all would be understood.

                    I get into the city and its a dogs breakfast, some streets full, others empty, cops and roadblocks everywhere, found a park as far East as i could, about 1.5km from my partners office and walked the rest of the way through dazed office types and shut stores and very nervous looking security guards, did the dash across Martin Place (it runs kinda North/South across the city (a massive boulevard) and eventually got to her work where they had them in lockdown (high value government building). Managed to find another of her friends working nearby and we got back to the car and got out.

                    On the bright side the awesome laksa place that usually has lines of yuppies a mile long was almost empty so i got a lunch out of it at least.

                    Shit day.
                    The best part of repentance is the sin

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                      Unlikely LT. The guy is a rank amateur. He didn't even have a proper ISIS flag - I think he had to ask for one to be brought in for him and it isn't the right type. If he was hard core there would be bodies and it would be a decent target. He is attention seeking. Part of me hopes he gets his head blown off as a warning to others who think there is a 'low risk' option here, but then there is the 'creating a martyr' bit. Not sure which I prefer.

                      This thing has received blanket media coverage here (and I mean blanket) with networks - especially the commercial ones - falling over each other to report all the nothing that has been going on for 12 hours now. Every 5 minutes some 'expert' is speculation on the speculations of some idiot who doesn't know shit. The government spent the first half of the day running around like someone just declared war.

                      Here is something I wrote on a Australian website. it is pretty much in line with the feelings there (though we have a lower ratio of dickheads than the bulk of the populace):



                      I would add that this going worldwide simply adds to the allure of a repeat performance. Thank you worldwide media.
                      IMO, he is requesting the flag to be handed to him in order to send a message. After all he already had some banners with Arabic writings on them and wouldn't have taken long for him to get a ISIL flag. Something tells me there might be a bigger plan in hatch and I hope I am proven wrong and the hostages are safe. We know how it's like to be held in ransom and it's sad Australia fell victim for this. But I have got to give it to the Aussies for storming the twitter with the hashtag #illridewithyou shows their compassion and it's a shame these fundamentalists can't think properly.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Interesting that they are not calling it a "Terrorist attack/siege".

                        Anyway no surprise and this was coming sooner or later.One of the hostages is a Indian from InfoSys. Lot of things are happening in Australia.Just a couple of months ago this happened -> http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/eas...nned-isis.html

                        This is a intresting image since ISIS flag is held by local aussi hostages before "Merry Christmas" .



                        Here is 1 Terrorist.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          The latest news is that the hostage taker is a Iranian refugee who criticized the presence of Australian troops in Afghanistan. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting 7 woman.
                          Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                            Unlikely LT. The guy is a rank amateur. He didn't even have a proper ISIS flag - I think he had to ask for one to be brought in for him and it isn't the right type. If he was hard core there would be bodies and it would be a decent target. He is attention seeking. Part of me hopes he gets his head blown off as a warning to others who think there is a 'low risk' option here, but then there is the 'creating a martyr' bit. Not sure which I prefer.
                            I see a cheap op that only takes one guy to make a splash. We're going to see this show repeated more often.

                            Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                            This thing has received blanket media coverage here (and I mean blanket) with networks - especially the commercial ones - falling over each other to report all the nothing that has been going on for 12 hours now. Every 5 minutes some 'expert' is speculation on the speculations of some idiot who doesn't know shit. The government spent the first half of the day running around like someone just declared war.
                            Gets attention and the media will spread the message for you. Your reactions are very familiar.

                            Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                            I would add that this going worldwide simply adds to the allure of a repeat performance. Thank you worldwide media.
                            Did not make my paper today but i bet it will be front page tomorrow.
                            Last edited by Double Edge; 15 Dec 14,, 16:23.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Martin Place cafe: Sydney Siege terrorists will never take our freedom

                              A good read...pretty much sums up every Ozzie I ever knew...
                              “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                              Mark Twain

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