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Teen jihadi planned Melb attacks: blog

A blog post that appears to be written by teenage jihadi Jake Bilardi says he planned terror attacks in Melbourne.

Teenage jihadi Jake Bilardi appears to have planned a string of bombings across Melbourne before he went to Syria.

A blog post written under the name Abu Abdullah al-Australi reveals the life of an atheist teenager who converted to Islam in suburban Melbourne.

Bilardi was reportedly killed in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq on Wednesday, although his death has not been confirmed.

The ABC reported Bilardi left improvised explosive devices in his Melbourne home before he left for Syria.

The Australian Federal Police said it was aware of the report but refused to comment on the matter.

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In a now-deleted blog post published on January 13, the writer, who appears to be Bilardi, details his plans for attacks if he was prevented from leaving Australia.

He planned to bomb foreign consulates and political targets, as well as launch attacks on shopping centres, before dumping the idea.

"I realised that the authorities were oblivious to my plans but if anything was to attract their attention it would be my purchasing of chemicals and other bomb-making materials," the post said.

The post is full of biographical details, including family information and the fact he was five when the September 11 attacks occurred, that point to the author being Bilardi.

The post says Bilardi was an excellent student who wanted to be a political journalist.

He said he became radicalised watching the news, including Network Seven's Sunrise program.

After travelling to the Middle East, Bilardi signed up for a "martyrdom operation", which then failed.

He fought in Baiji before registering again for another attempt at a suicide attack.


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AAP


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