The Islamic terrorists recently arrested in Sydney were assembling quite an arsenal: Accused ‘could launch 35-hour barrage’. (Hat tip: Hulugu.)

ONE of the men accused of plotting a terrorist attack in Australia had enough military-style ammunition to launch a continuous 35-hour barrage of gunfire.

The evidence, from a ballistics expert, was quoted in court documents revealed yesterday as part of the case against nine Sydney men accused of planning an attack last year.

The prosecution case against the group is so large it has been broken into 93 parts. Court documents allege that as well as planning to construct improvised explosive devices, a massive arsenal was part of the group’s plans for an attack.

They show that a search in June last year of the home of one of the accused, Mohamed Ali Elomar, unearthed a cache of 12 rifles and pistols and 28,198 rounds of ammunition including 11,765 rounds of 7.62-calibre ammunition.

“A ballistics expert has stated it would take approximately 34 hours and 48 minutes to fire all the 7.6239mm rounds in the possession of Elomar with the 7.62 rifle owned by Elomar which was seized by police,” the court documents said. When he was arrested in November, two pistols were found under his pillow.

Two more of the accused, Bradley Umar Baladjam and Mazen Touma were observed in June last year loading 7500 rounds of the same 7.62-calibre ammuni tion into a truck, which police later seized. “This type of ammunition is used in SKS or AK-47 type semi-automatic weapons,” the documents say.