Australian police say Bondi terror attack was ‘inspired by Islamic State’

Early indications from the police investigations into the Bondi terror attack suggest the killers were “inspired by” the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, Australia’s federal police commissioner said.

Fifteen innocent people were killed when father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram, armed with what police described as “long guns”, opened fire on more than 1,000 people attending a Jewish festival in the Archer Park area of the popular beach at 6.47pm local time on Sunday.

New South Wales (NSW) Health said 24 people remained in hospital with three still in a critical condition.

Sajid Akram, 50, was shot by police and died at the scene, but 24-year-old Naveed woke from a coma on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to survive his injuries and face criminal charges, police said.

At a press conference on Tuesday, authorities gave an update on the parallel critical incident and counter-terror investigations into the attack.

“Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State,” federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

“These are the alleged actions of those who have aligned themselves with a terrorist organisation.”

NSW state police commissioner Mal Lanyon confirmed that “a vehicle registered to the younger male contained IEDs (intermittent explosive devices) and two homemade IS flags”.

Mr Lanyon also said police were investigating a trip both men took to the Philippines last month.

“The reasons why they went and the purpose of that trip and where they went when they were there, are under investigation,” he said.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported the pair travelled to the country in early November and underwent militant training in the southern Philippines, citing a senior counter-terrorism official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Mr Lanyon also said a gun licence held by Sajid Akram was issued in 2023 – not 2015 as police had originally stated.

Addressing the conference, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese called IS a “radical perversion of Islam”.

He continued: “Isis was created by an evil ideology that has been called out not just by the Australian government but the global community.

“These antisemitic terrorist attacks will not be successful with their objective, which is to divide us as a nation.

“We will continue to come together as a nation and to embrace each other.”

Mr Albanese also said he had met with “Australian hero Ahmed al Ahmed and his family”.

The 43-year-old fruit shop owner, who is in hospital with bullet wounds to his arm and hand, is seen fighting and disarming a gunman in a video shared widely on social media shortly after the attack.

“I thanked him for the lives that he helped to save and I wished him all the very best with his surgery that he will undertake tomorrow,” Mr Albanese said.

He added in a video shared on social media: “Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country.”

The attack has been declared a terrorist incident targeting a celebration in Sydney on the first day of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is an eight-day Jewish festival of lights, usually observed in December.

Police said the ages of the dead range from 10 to 87.

British-born Eli Schlanger, 41, who grew up in Temple Fortune, north London, and was assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, has been named as one of those killed.

The youngest victim has been named as 10-year-old Matilda, whose full name was not released. The Harmony Russian School of Sydney said on social media her “memory will remain in our hearts”.

Two police officers sustained gunshot wounds in the attack and remain in hospital.

State and federal government leaders have vowed to strengthen gun laws in the wake of the incident, with options including capping the maximum number of guns owned by one person, limiting the types of guns deemed legal and making Australian citizenship a condition of holding a gun licence.

Mr Albanese said on Tuesday: “National cabinet has agreed to work together to strengthen Australia’s gun laws.

“Their very nature means they are only as strong as their weakest link.”