Topics: Australia, News, Terrorism, World News
The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed a potential motive for the mass shooting of people celebrating Hanukkah in Bondi Beach over the weekend.
At least 15 people were shot and killed during what authorities are calling a terrorist attack on Bondi Beach, Sydney, on Sunday.
The two alleged gunman are reportedly father and son 50-year-old Sajid and 24-year-old Naveed Akram, who are accused of shooting at crowds of people celebrating the Jewish festival at the beach at around 6:40pm local time.
This has marked the deadliest mass shootings in the country since 1996 Port Arthur.
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The youngest victim has been identified as 10-year-old Matilda, while a former police officer and a Holocaust survivor are also among the fatalities.
In an interview following the attack, the Australian Prime Minister has revealed a potential motive that authorities are leaning towards at this time.
According to a France 24 report, he stated: “It would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology.”
In a separate interview, he added: “With the rise of ISIS more than a decade ago now, the world has been grappling with extremism and this hateful ideology.”
Police also found a car registered to Naveed Akram parked near the beach and found improvised bombs and ‘two homemade ISIS flags’, according to the South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon.
Albanese has also revealed that Naveed Akram had come to the attention of Australia’s intelligence agency prior to the attack in 2019. However, at the time he was not considered an imminent threat.
Albanese said: “He was drawn to their attention because of his association with others ... They interviewed him, they interviewed his family members, they interviewed people around him.
"Two of the people he was associated with were charged and went to jail, but he was not seen at that time to be a person of interest."
According to a CNN report, the father and son had also recently traveled to the Philippines, specifically to an island known for Islamist insurgency. However it is not clear what the pair did while in the country.
While the incident has been dubbed a terrorist attack, it has also sparked a debate on whether tighter gun laws are necessary in the nation.
Sajid died following the attack while Naveed is said to be in a critical condition.
Sajid was granted a firearms license for recreational hunting and was believed to have been a member of a gun club.
Albanese has since suggested the Australian government will be looking at tougher gun laws, including a limit on the number of guns a licensed owner can have.
