Australians have been laying flowers at the scene
of a deadly hostage siege that ended with a police
operation and the death of three people , including
the hostage -taker , in Sydney.
Crowds have gathered at the site of the incident in
Martin Place as social media have been flooded
with expressions of fear and dismay and pictures
of the city harbour and skyline .
Most of the hostages escaped but the cafe
manager, 34 , and a 38 -year -old barrister and
mother -of - three died in Monday 's operation while
six more people were injured, including three
women with bullet wounds .
The attack was staged by Iranian -born Man Haron
Monis, who also died in the incident .
- 50 year old Iranian refugee who moved to
Australia
- Was facing charges for being an accessory in the
murder of his ex -wife
- Also faced more than 50 allegations of indecent
and sexual assault
- Was convicted to 300 hours of community
service for sending hate letters to families of dead
Australian soldiers
Andrew Scipione, New South Wales ( NSW) police
commissioner, said there had been 17 hostages in
total.
The hostage crisis had begun early on Monday and
lasted around 16 hours .
At a press conference on Tuesday, Tony Abbott,
Australia 's prime minister, has called the incident
a " sick fantasy of a deeply disturbed individual ".
Abbott said questions should be asked about why
the attacker was allowed to be free .
"How can someone, who has had such a long and
chequered history , not be on the appropriate watch
lists and how can someone like that be entirely at
large in the community ," he said .
"These are questions we need to look at carefully ,
calmly and methodically to learn the right lessons
and to act upon them . "
Flags on all government buildings were ordered to
be flown at half - mast following the incident.
"I will ride with you, " read some notes attached to
bouquets in Martin Place, referring to the
campaign for solidarity with the Muslim
community that has seen tens of thousands use
the hashtag # illridewithyou.
The hostage crisis came after Australia joined the
fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant ( ISIL ) group after an appeal by US
President Barack Obama several months ago .
Australia has deployed a squadron of fighter jets
and hundreds of troops to the Middle East .
The Australian government had raised the terror
warning level in September in response to the
domestic threat posed by supporters of ISIL .
Two weeks later, a known suspect was shot dead
by police in Melbourne after he tried to attack
police officers with a knife.
Counterterrorism law enforcement teams later
conducted dozens of raids and made several
arrests in Australia ' s three largest cities -
Melbourne , Sydney and Brisbane .
One man arrested during a series of raids in
Sydney was charged with conspiring with an ISIL
leader in Syria to behead a random person in
downtown Sydney.
ISIL , which now holds a third of Syria and Iraq ,
has threatened Australia in the past .
In September , Abu Mohammed al- Adnani , an ISIL
spokesperson , issued an audio message urging
"lone wolf" attacks abroad, specifically mentioning
Australia .
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