The suspected father and son terrorist duo who killed at least 15 during a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration on Sunday were previously investigated by Australian intelligence for ties to the so-called Islamic State, and ISIS flags were reportedly found in their car after the apparent antisemitic attack.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that suspected terrorist Naveed Akram, 24, first came to the attention of authorities in 2019 and had been the focus of a six-month investigation by the ASIO domestic intelligence agency over alleged ties to a local Australian ISIS group.
“He was examined on the basis of being associated with others, and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” Albanese said per the Sydney Morning Herald.
The paper reported that Akram, who was injured during the attack and remains in police custody, was initially flagged for allegedly accessing extremist content online and consorting with other radicals.
Public broadcaster ABC reported that intelligence officials had tied him to ISIS terrorist Isaac El Matari, who is currently in prison for plotting a jihadist insurgency in Australia.
Additionally, the Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) is reported to believe that Naveed and his father, Sajid Akram, who died during the attack on Sunday, had previously pledged allegiance to ISIS. A JCTT also told the public broadcaster that an ISIS flag was also found in their car on Sunday.
Despite this, the New South Wales Police and the left-wing Albanese government have yet to cite radical Islam as the motivating factor behind the attack, which apparently targeted Jews celebrating Hanukkah on Bondi Beach. Prime Minister Albanese said that neither attacker was on a watch list at the time of the attack, and NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said that there was “little knowledge of either of these men by the authorities” before the attack.
Counter-terrorism expert at Deakin University, Greg Barton, said: “If [Naveed Akram] was of interest in 2019, people will be asking whether the authorities missed something … People will be asking whether enough was done to monitor him. The authorities themselves will be asking that.
Authorities have also been noticeably tight-lipped about the background of the suspected attackers. On Monday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said that Naveed Akram is an Australian-born citizen. Although Burke admitted that the senior Akram had immigrated to Australia in 1998 as a student and later obtained a resident-return visa, he refused to disclose from which country he originally hailed.
Meanwhile, the father-son duo are reported to have visited the Philippines in November. A prominent ISIS affiliate, the Islamic State of East Asia (ISEA), operates in the country and has been proscribed by the Australian government as a terror group since 2017. It is currently unclear if any contact was made between the Akrams and ISEA during their trip.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that Israeli intelligence is currently investigating whether any foreign state actors, notably Iran, had a role in facilitating the attack on the Jewish community at Bondi Beach.
On Monday, the leftist Albanese government in Canberra said that it plans on further tightening Australia’s strict gun control laws after it was revealed that Sajid Akram was a licensed owner of six firearms. The prime minister said that his government will consider automatically expiring licenses and will work to complete the long-mooted national gun registry.
Others blamed the attack on Albanese’s mass migration agenda, including Australian Senator Pauline Hanson, who warned voters: “(If) you keep voting for these bastards who actually don’t have pride for our country, Australia, our flag, then be prepared to get what we’re going to get.”