Australian: intelligence looked for IS connections in the Bondi shooter report

Australian: According to the national broadcaster on Monday, Australia’s intelligence agency looked into a potential connection between one of the suspected shooters in the Bondi Beach massacre and the Islamic State organization six years before.

15 people were killed and around 40 others were injured when a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son are suspected of opening fire on a Hanukkah celebration at the renowned Sydney beach on Sunday.

Sajid Akram, who was killed in a gunfight with police, and his son Naveed Akram, who was critically sick in the hospital and under police watch, were identified by Australian media as the shooters.

According to public broadcaster ABC, which quoted an unidentified senior source in the joint counter-terrorism operation looking into the Bondi Beach assault, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization investigated the son in 2019.

It said that Naveed Akram was thought to have a strong relationship with an Islamic State member who was detained in July 2019 and found guilty of planning a terrorist attack in Australia.

According to the broadcaster, counterterrorism officers thought the two Bondi Beach shooters had sworn loyalty to Islamic State.

Two IS flags were discovered in the gunmen’s vehicle near the beach, according to senior authorities who spoke to ABC.

Reporters were informed on Sunday by ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess that one of the shooters was “known to us but not in an immediate threat perspective”.

“So, obviously we need to look into what happened here,” he said.

Police in New South Wales said that they were unable to verify the ABC claim.

According to ASIO, it “does not comment on individuals or ongoing investigations” .