Three arrested over alleged Melbourne terror plot

Three men who allegedly plotted "chilling" terror attacks in Melbourne were arrested early Tuesday, less than two weeks after a stabbing rampage inspired by the Islamic State group left two dead in Australia's second largest city, police said.

The trio, all Australian nationals of Turkish descent, were nabbed in overnight raids as they escalated preparations to attack crowded areas of Melbourne, according to police.

The men were "certainly inspired by ISIS", the Islamic State group, but had no known links to a specific organisation, Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.

"We're very confident that our actions taken early this morning have neutralised any threat to the... community from this group," he said.

"We don't believe there's any extended threat outside of the group."