Islam Times - ISIS-Inspired Assailant Stabbed 3, Set Fire to Gas-Laden Truck in Australia

Islam Times - Australian police said on Saturday a man who set fire to a pickup truck laden with gas cylinders in the center of the Australian city of Melbourne on Friday and stabbed three people, was inspired by ISIS but did not have direct links with the terrorist group.

Police have said the attacker was Hassan Khalif Shire Ali who had his passport cancelled in 2015 because he wanted to fight for ISIS in Syria. The 31-year-old Somali-born assailant was shot by police and died in hospital.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing any evidence.

The utility truck carrying barbecue gas cylinders burned on busy Bourke Street just before the evening rush hour as the driver stabbed bystanders and attacked police.

The cylinders did not explode and the fire was put out in 10 minutes, by which point the attack was over.

“We are still trying to piece together whether the vehicle was lit, then he got out the car or whether he got out of the car and then the vehicle took flame,” Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton told reporters.