Australia lists US far-right NSO as terror outfit

Canberra, February 17

Australia on Thursday said it had added the US-based far-right extremist group National Socialist Order (NSO) and planned to add the entirety of the Palestinian group Hamas to its list of outlawed terrorist organisations as concerns rise about radicalised children.

The National Socialist Order, formerly known as Atomwaffen Division, joins Islamist groups Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Hurras al-Din in being added to the list, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said.

Hamas’ military wing, Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has been listed as a terrorist organisation since 2003. The National Socialist Order, which advocates a global “race war” and the collapse of democratic societies, joined the list on Thursday, bringing the number of outlawed groups to 28. The two Islamist groups, both active in the Syrian civil war, will be listed in April. — AP