Police allege the 44-year-old travelled to Syria in 2012 and 2013 to fight ‘for months at a time’

This article is more than 4 months old

This article is more than 4 months old

A Sydney man has been charged after allegedly fighting for an al-Qaida-linked Syrian terrorist group “for months at a time” in 2012 and 2013.

The 44-year-old was due to face Parramatta bail court on Saturday after tactical police arrested him in a car park in Mount Lewis on Friday.

He faces a dozen charges including two counts of engaging in hostile activity in a foreign state and seven counts of publishing false or misleading material to obtain property.

Police allege the man travelled to Syria in 2012 and 2013 to fight “for months at a time” with the terrorist organisation Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

The Syria-based Sunni Islamist extremist group, previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra and the Al-Nusra Front, adheres to a violent extremist ideology and retains links to al-Qaida, according to the Australian National Security website.

The Sydney man also faces fraud charges related to alleged involvement in the supply and purchase of illicit tobacco, as well as actual and attempted credit card fraud.

He was on Friday taken to Liverpool hospital for treatment to minor injuries sustained during the arrest before being returned to Bankstown police station.