MELBOURNE: Australian police launched a major anti-terrorism operation on Monday, detaining several people they said were suspected of plotting an attack in the country.About 400 officers from state and national security services took part in at least 19 pre-dawn raids on properties in the southern city of Melbourne, Victoria state police said in a statement.Police said members of a Melbourne-based group had “been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia.'' The group was allegedly linked to hostilities in Somalia, the police statement said without giving further details. The Australian newspaper reported the detainees were Islamist extremists who had planned to launch a suicide attack on an Australian Army base. The men were allegedly planning to use automatic weapons to kill as many soldiers as possible before killing themselves, the newspaper reported. Police refused to confirm the report or release any further details, but said they would hold a press conference later Monday. LINK