Three men have been arrested by police in Sydney, in a counter terrorism operation targeting ISIS supporters.

Police executed search warrants on six properties in the western Sydney suburbs of Greenacre, Canada Bay, Toongabbie, Chester Hill and Ingleburn.

Isaak el Matari, 20, and two other men, aged 23 and 30, are expected to be charged with criminal offences.

Robert Ovaria, Seven News Sydney reporter, said the men are accused of plotting rudimentary plans to attack various locations in the city.

“They’re suspected of planning quite a bit, although it’s really just the one man that police will allege is the ringleader,” he told 3AW’s Nick McCallum.

“It is the 20-year-old, the youngest, who is accused of the majority of the accusations, specifically plotting, in its very early stages, to attack Sydney police stations, churches, defence installations.”

El Matari is believed to have spent time in a Lebanese jail, after being caught planning to join Islamic State.

He has been under strict surveillance since returning to Australia.

Police say there is no imminent threat to the community.

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