Australian police raid homes in New South Wales linked to Christchurch gunman

SYDNEY, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Australian counter-terrorism police raided two homes with links to the perpetrator of the Christchurch shooting in the State of news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new South Wales (NSW) on Monday.

One of the homes belongs to the sister of the gunman, who had previously lived in NSW where he worked as a personal trainer.

The man is alleged to have killed 50 people so far when he opened fire at two mosques in the news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand city of Christchurch on Friday.

"The primary aim of the activity is to formally obtain material that may assist news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand Police in their ongoing investigation," NSW and Federal Police said in a joint statement.

The homes were located in the far north of the state on Australia's east coast and police have reassured the local community that there was nothing to suggest a current or impending threat related to the search warrants.

Police said that the family of the gunman are assisting with their enquiries.