The investigation into the anti-Semitic terrorist attack on Bondi Beach has revealed that those responsible, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, were motivated by an extremist ideology, as confirmed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to various media outlets.
The bloody attack, which left fifteen dead, occurred as Sydney's Jewish community celebrated the first day of Hanukkah, and has generated an intense response from authorities, who are now examining possible links with the terrorist group Islamic State.
In the silver vehicle that the Akrams used to travel to Bondi, police found a flag associated with the Islamic State and several improvised explosive devices, according to police sources cited by The Sydney Morning Herald.
The branch known as the Islamic State of East Asia maintains activity in the Philippines, a country the two men visited the previous month, raising suspicions of possible radicalization during that trip. Authorities have ruled out the existence of a third person involved and found no evidence that the attackers were part of an organized cell, Albanian told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon explained that Naveed Akram was known to police, although his record was “very limited.” Lanyon stressed that there were no indications prior to the attack that a violent act was being planned. Both suspects lived in a small house in Bonnyrigg, on Sydney’s far west side, and had rented a property through Airbnb in Campsie, in the city’s west side, for the weekend. Police executed search warrants at both locations.
Sajid Akram, 50, had held a firearms license for approximately a decade and owned six registered weapons. Both he and his son were members of a hunting and shooting club, according to information gathered by The Times. Naveed, 24, had been unemployed for two months after the construction company where he worked as a bricklayer went bankrupt, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Naveed's mother, identified locally as Verena, told the same media outlet that her son had told her he was planning to go fishing in Jervis Bay, about 160 kilometers south of the New South Wales coast. On Sunday, Naveed called her to say: “Mom, I just went swimming. I went snorkeling. Now we're going to have lunch, and this morning we're going to stay home because it's so hot.”
Australian federal authorities had already focused their attention on Naveed Akram in October 2019, when the domestic intelligence agency ASIO launched an investigation due to his personal associations. Albanian explained that “the assessment was carried out because the son had certain associations at the time, and the investigation lasted six months.” It was ultimately concluded that there was no persistent threat or risk of Naveed engaging in violent acts, and his name was not on any counterterrorism watch lists.
Police have indicated that it is still too early to confirm the exact motives for the attack, although the investigation is focusing on the possible influence of extremist ideologies and links to international terrorist organizations.
