Australia says Assyrian church stabbing was terrorist act

Emergency services vehicles respond following a stabbing at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in the suburb of Wakeley in Sydney, Australia April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Lewis Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian police on Tuesday said a knife attack on an Assyrian church bishop and some followers in Sydney was a terrorist act motivated by suspected religious extremism, as the country reeled from a second stabbing incident in three days.

At least four people were wounded in the attack, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church, when a man lunged at him with a knife during a service live-streamed on Monday.