Sydney, February 1 (RHC)-- Australian police have evacuated and locked down a number of schools in the city of Sydney after receiving bomb threats. A New South Wales (NSW) Police spokesperson said there was “nothing to substantiate that there is anything serious at any of the schools at this stage.”

Earlier, seven Australian schools had been evacuated following similar threats, which turned out to be false.

Similar threats were also made in London, Paris, Belgium, Norway, Tokyo and Amsterdam. A Twitter account calling itself the “Evacuation Squad” had claimed responsibility for the threats to the schools. 

Police are now investigating whether the phone calls are linked; but, Fairfax Media reported that an email it purportedly received from the group denied they were behind the Australian threats.

Australia has been on high alert for attacks by home-grown terrorists since 2014, when a hostage standoff killed three people, including the hostage taker, in Sydney.