Boy's Arrest Thwarts Major Terror Attack in Australia

A 17-year-old boy was taken into custody this weekend after police found three homemade bombs in his home in Melbourne, Australia.

"These are extremely serious offenses and they did involve the use of improvised explosive devices," Deputy Commissioner Mike Phelan, with the Australian Federal Police, said. "Had we not intervened, there was a real threat of action being taken."

"We know that we face a very serious terror threat, a very serious terror threat," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.

The suspect is the son of a Syrian-born doctor. He's been charged with planning a terrorist act and with possessing items connected with terrorism.

He is the twenty-third person to be charged in counterterrorism raids since September. Last month, five Australian teens were arrested, accused of plotting an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack at a Veterans' Day ceremony, also in Melbourne.