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Sydney Bondi Beach shooting 'motivated by Islamic State ideology’: Australia PM Albanese
A total of 16 people were killed, which includes one of the gunmen Sajid Akram, after a mass shooting took place at Bondi Beach.
Days after a deadly mass shooting attack at Sydney's Bondi beach killed 15 people, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has stated that the attack was driven by Islamic State (IS) terror group's ideology, news agency AFP and the BBC reported on Tuesday.
"It would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology," Albanese said, as per excerpts shared with news agencies by his office from a radio interview he gave to the Sydney channel of the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation (ABC).
He also called the attack "meticulous, calculated, cold-blooded", and said investigation so far indicated that the two gunman, a father-son duo, had acted alone.
Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett also said that the mas shooting was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State," Associated Press reported.
“The ideology that has been around for more than a decade that led to this ideology of hate, and in this case, a preparedness to engage in mass murder,” Albanese said, according to the AFP report. He added that attacker Naveed Akram, whose accomplice and father Sajid Akram was gunned down by cops, was drawn to authorities attention earlier “because of his association with others”.
“Two of the people he (Naveed) was associated with were charged and went to jail, but he was not seen at that time to be a person of interest,” the PM was quoted as saying.
The Australian PM's remarks come after continued speculation that the Sajid and Naveed Akram were influenced by the IS. Senior law enforcement officials had told ABC of a possible link after an apparent IS flag was found in the car of the gunmen.
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Australia's deadliest shooting in 30 years
As per New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon, 15 people were killed in the attack, plus the gunman; the victims included a 10-year-old girl.
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The two gunmen behind the Bondi Beach shooting were identified on Monday morning (local time), as New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon stated the two males — 50-year-old and 24-year-old — were the only shooters involved in the attack.
Naveed Akram, 24, was apprehended at the scene and taken to the hospital. The NSW police also shared that his father Sajid was shot dead by the police at the time of the attack.
(With inputs from AFP)
