Bangladeshi woman allegedly stabs man in what police say is a standalone terrorist act

A woman has stabbed a man in his sleep in an alleged Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack in Melbourne’s north.

The 24-year-old Bangladeshi woman allegedly stabbed the 56-year-old man in the neck at a home in Mill Park about 4.30pm on Friday.

She was arrested at the scene and charged with engaging in a terrorist act.

“We will allege this was a standalone, Islamic State-inspired attack, designed to cause harm to our community,” the Australian federal police acting deputy commissioner of national security, Ian McCartney, said on Saturday.

“We deplore any attempt to intimidate our community.”

The man will undergo surgery at Royal Melbourne hospital on Saturday for non-life threatening injuries.

It’s alleged the woman is a Bangladeshi national who travelled to Melbourne on a student visa on 1 February.

She was renting a room at the victim’s Callistemon Rise home while she was studying, police say.

The man’s young child was also at the home at the time of the stabbing but was unharmed.

The acting AFP deputy commissioner, Ross Guenther, said the police were not looking for anyone else in relation to the attack.

“This is an isolated incident and the community can be assured that Victoria Police is doing everything we can to keep the community safe,” he said.

The accused woman was due to face Melbourne Magistrates court on Saturday.

Since September 2014, when the national terrorism threat level was raised, police have charged 85 people, including this woman, following 36 counter-terrorism operations around Australia.