New Delhi, Dec 15
The shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday claimed 16 lives, while injuring over 40. The incident occurred when over a crowd of 1,000 had gathered at the venue on the first day of Hanukkah. The two shooters have been identified as 24-year-old male Naveed Akram and 50-year-old Sajid Akram.
While the motive behind the attack is yet to be ascertained, the police have found two Islamic State flags in the car of the two terrorists. Naveed Akram and his father, Sakid Akram, have been identified as the terrorists by the investigators.
Experts say that the pattern of the attack suggests that this was an act by the Islamic State. While the motive is yet to be ascertained, experts believe that the intention may have been to target the Jewish festival in an attempt to send out a message to Israel. The Australian agencies are yet to confirm the role of the Islamic State in this attack. Two flags of the terror group had been found. One of the flags could be seen in the footage from the scene, on the bonnet of the car that belonged to the attackers.
The probe is ongoing, and all angles are leading up to the Islamic State. Naveed Akram, one of the terrorists, was in fact examined by Australia’s domestic Intelligence agency, ASIO, six years ago for his close links with the Sydney-based Islamic State group. Naveed had come under the radar of the Australian agencies after the police had foiled an Islamic State-planned attack. Naveed’s name cropped up following the July 2019 arrest of El Matari, a hardened Islamic State terrorist.
Matari, who is currently serving a seven-year jail term, was close to Naveed. Matari was a self-declared commander of the outfit in Australia and was planning a massive attack in Sydney. The ASIO had learnt that apart from Matari, Naveed was close to several other terrorists of the Islamic State.
"One of these individuals was known to us, but not in an immediate-threat perspective, so we need to look into what happened here," ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said. Naveed is currently in the hospital under police guard, while Sajid died during the exchange of gunfire.
Counter-terrorism experts say that the attack bears the signature of the Islamic State. It cannot be called a lone wolf attack, considering there was more than one person. However, the planning and execution bear the signature of the Islamic State.
It appears that the duo had planned the attack on their own and executed it. The very fact that they decided to target people who were celebrating a Jewish festival suggests that the terrorists were trying to send a message across to Israel, experts say.
Further, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the attackers were deliberately targeting the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah. The Islamic State has been known for staging such attacks. France has seen similar attacks where Islamic State-inspired terrorists have targeted crowds.
In 2016, the Nice truck attack by a lone wolf bearing allegiance to the Islamic State claimed 86 lives. An Indian Intelligence Bureau official said that Naveed had been examined by the Australian Intelligence six years back. This suggests that he was in the know of a major attack being planned in Sydney back in 2019. From what has been unfolding, it appears that Naveed may have gone through the attack that was planned six years back.
Since he had come under the radar, he may have been lying low to avoid detection. He seems to have waited for the appropriate time to go through with this attack, the official also added.
According to investigators, Sajid Akram owned a fruit shop, while his son had been laid off from his bricklaying job around two months back after the company became insolvent. Media reports claim that both were Pakistani nationals. The police said that Sajid had held a gun license for around 10 years.
