Sydney [Australia], December 16: Australian intelligence is investigating suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) in the Sydney shooting, while the cabinet is proposing reforms to gun laws.
Yesterday, Australian police confirmed that the two gunmen who carried out the anti-Semitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney (New South Wales) were a father and son. Their identities were not released, but media outlets identified the father as Sajid Akram (50 years old) and the son as Naveed Akram (24 years old), according to The Guardian .
Previously under investigation
Police confirmed the older gunman was killed at the scene while the other was critically injured. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the father was a legal foreign resident who arrived in Australia in 1998, while the son was born in Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that his son had been placed under surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in 2019 but was deemed not to pose a threat. ABC News quoted investigators as revealing that Naveed had close ties to a serving-of-prison ISIS member, and police found two ISIS flags in the gunman's vehicle at the scene, along with improvised explosive devices. However, Albanese maintained there was no evidence to suggest the two gunmen were members of a terrorist group, although they clearly acted with extremist ideology.
Adam Ismail, founder of the Al-Murad Institute in western Sydney , confirmed that he taught Islamic doctrine to Naveed in 2019. Ismail denied any involvement in the December 14th shooting and condemned the violence, stating that the gunman acted contrary to his teachings by killing others.
The shooting occurred at a celebration of the traditional Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach. Two gunmen killed 15 people, including children as young as 10, and injured 40 others. As of yesterday afternoon, 27 people were still receiving treatment in hospital.
Tighten gun ownership laws.
This was the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since the 1996 attack on Port Arthur that killed 35 people. Following that, the Australian government implemented significant reforms to gun laws, including banning semi-automatic weapons , buying back guns from citizens, and establishing a stricter licensing system, according to Reuters. However, the December 14th attack has raised many questions about whether the old laws are still relevant.
The Australian Institute (a public policy research organization in Canberra) says the number of legally owned firearms in Australia has steadily increased over the past two decades and now stands at 4 million, higher than the number before the 1996 arms controls.
Police say the elderly gunman had a 10-year gun permit and owned six firearms. Following yesterday's meeting, the Australian cabinet announced it would take decisive action to reform gun laws, notably proposing limits on the number of weapons a person can own and requiring gun ownership to be by Australian citizens, according to The Guardian . The cabinet also pledged to eradicate antisemitism , hatred, violence, and terrorism.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
