Bondi Beach killers were in terrorist hot spot two weeks before massacre

Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old immigrant behind Australia’s worst terrorist attack, was granted a shooting licence two years before the Bondi Beach massacre even though his son had been investigated by a security agency for links to Islamic extremists.

Mr Akram and 24-year-old Naveed Akram took two home-made ISIS flags with them on Sunday to the Sydney suburb with improvised bombs, a shotgun and high-powered rifle legally issued under Mr Akram’s hunting licence.

They pair flew to the Islamic-dominated Philippines island of Mindanao last month, raising the prospect they met affiliates of the Syrian-based terrorist organisation — often referred to as a death cult — in preparation for Sunday’s attack on a gathering to mark Channukah, an eight-day Jewish religious festival.

Sajid Akram travelled to the Philippines on an Indian passport, according to an Australian Government source, and arrived on November 1 and left on November 28, Bloomberg news reported.

Naveed Akram used his Australian passport, raising questions about whether the intelligence agencies realised a man previously investigated for extremist links and with access to firearms was visiting a notorious terrorist hot spot.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the attack was inspired by ISIS but “there is no evidence to suggest other individuals were involved in this attack, however we caution that this could change given it is early in our investigation”.

Sajid Akram died during a shootout with police. His son was also shot and is in hospital under armed guard. Seven News reported he awoke from a coma on Tuesday, opening the way for him to be charged with multiple murder counts and terrorism.

‘Where are the police!’

Dash-cam footage emerged on Tuesday revealing Boris Gurman, 69, a Russian-speaking Jewish immigrant getting into a physical fight with Sajid Akram before the attack began and managing to take away his weapon. The footage showed Mr Gurman, in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, falling on to the road.

What happened next is unclear, but his body and that of his wife Sofia were later seen lying near a car with an ISIS flag on the windscreen.

Survivors complained some police officers in the park where that attack took place did not fight back.

A video taken by a man who sheltered behind a plastic chair as shots rang out recorded him yelling: “How long is shooting and the police is not here? Where are the police? Ten minutes!”

Two police officers were shot, including Constable Scott Dyson, who was had worked in the area the last last 18 months. The police force said was in a serious but stable condition.

At a press conference with Anthony Albanese and the top NSW and the Australian Federal Police leaders, NSW Premier Chris Minns became emotional as he defended their bravery for fighting the two attackers with handguns.

“They weren’t shot in the back as they were running away,” he said. “They were shot in the front.”

Mr Minns and NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon would not say how many officers were present when the attack began or concede the attack could have been prevented.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that if we had our time again, of course we would do things differently,” Mr Minns said.

Mal Lanyon, the NSW police commissioner, said information issued Monday that Sajid Akram was issued a firearms licence in 2019 was incorrect. His application was approved that year, Mr Lanyon but he didn’t complete the process and reapplied, successfully, in 2023.

Al Madina Dawah Centre

A joint investigation by the NSW and federal police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, which cleared Naveed Akram of terror links around 2019, is likely to focus on how the two men became radicalised and what they did in the Philippines, where ISIS affiliate Islamic State East Asia Province operates on Mindanao.

Born in Australia, Naveed Akram studied the Koran at the Al Madina Dawah Centre, an Islamic prayer centre in Western Sydney. The ABC reported Mr Akram was associated with the school’s owner, Wisam Haddad, who was this year fined by the Federal Court for calling Jews “descendants of apes and pigs”, “vile” and “wicked”.

Sajid Akram lived in Australia on visas after he arrived in 1998. Mr Albanese would not disclose which country he emigrated from. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to undermine the investigation by going into that detail,” he told reporters.

With about 200 million followers of Islam, India has the third-largest Muslim population.

Federal Cabinet’s National Security Committee met again on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the response, which will focus on toughening gun-ownership laws nationwide. Mr Minns said he would recall the NSW Parliament before Christmas to make it harder to buy a gun and get and keep a shooters licence.

Four years’ build up

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley urged Mr Albanese to focus on anti-Semitism, which many Jews believe has been stoked by the government’s criticism of Israel over its war with Hamas.

“What has been allowed to occur in this country over the last two and a half years is a de-legitimisation of the place of Jewish Australians,” she said while visiting a makeshift floral memorial at Bondi.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, declined to endorse comments by his PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing Mr Albanese of fuelling anti-Semitism.

But Mr Maimon suggested violence towards Jews and Jewish institutions had built up over the past four years and culminated with the massacre, which has received worldwide attention.

“What one can expect when it is painted all over Australia on synagogues, buildings, public buildings, calling for the death of Israel, death to the IDF, and then cars are put on fire,” he said at Bondi.

Another politician to visit the beach suburb was One Nation founder Pauline Hanson and her new recruit, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce. Asked what should be done about extremists, Senator Hanson said: “I would have them rounded up.”

Former prime minister John Howard, who banned semi-automatic rifles after Australia’s worst modern massacre in 1996, urged the government to focus on violence towards Jews.

“I do not want ... the focus of guns to be used as a pretext to avoid the broader debate about the spread of hatred and Jewish people and anti-Semitism,” he said.

Health authorities said 24 of the 40 people injured people were being treated in eight hospitals across Sydney. Ten were classified critical.

One of the patients, Ahmed el Ahmed, is due to undergo surgery for gunshot wounds to his left shoulder and arm Wednesday. He was visited in hospital by Mr Albanese Tuesday. A charity fund drive has raised $2,133,013 for him.

Australian flags were flown at half-mast around the world. In London, people gathered near Parliament early Tuesday morning to commemorate the dead.