Local jihadists returning from the conflict in Syria pose an unparalleled security risk to Australia, experts say.
'We've never been in a situation like this before,' says Professor Greg Barton, security analyst at Monash University.
'One of the things that we're hearing from security officials in Australia and also abroad is the open acknowledgement that there is so much here that we just don't know... the fact that people are speaking so openly and so frequently about their concern and the fact that they don't know means that we're in a security situation that we haven't been in before. It's probably one of the most serious situations we've faced.'
Mr Barton believes Australia now faces a heightened risk of terrorism due to the exposure of Australian nationals in the Syrian conflict.
'We have to assume that we're more at risk than we have been in the past, we've never had a situation where so many Australians have gone off to fight in a foreign fight of this kind, particularly one that uses a narrative of Jihad.'
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