In their car headed to Bondi Beach they had loaded rifles to kill as many Jews as possible and two black flags to testify their loyalty to the international Islamic terrorism of ISIS.
For Australia, now is a time of mourning, with candlelight vigils and commemorations across the country, but also a time of investigation and reflection. This concerns the circulation of weapons—the already strict legislation for which will be tightened—but also the controls on those at risk. Because, Canberra's intelligence services have announced, Said and Naveed Akram, aged 50 and 24, a father and son of Pakistani origin responsible for the deaths of 15 people and the wounding of 42 others, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State since 2019. Nevertheless, the young man —who was seriously injured— had a valid gun license, while the father—killed by the police—had a license to possess six, and he brought them all to the Bondi Beach pedestrian bridge to use them against innocent people.
Naveed had been, as they say, "targeted" six years ago, when police foiled another attack. The boy was believed to have ties to Isaak El Matari, the self-proclaimed Daesh commander in Australia, who is still in prison. But after six months of investigation, it was concluded that Naveed was not considered a threat. He and his father apparently acted alone: the police do not believe they had other accomplices. "There is no evidence of collusion, nor that these people were part of a cell," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Australian broadcaster ABC, but they were "clearly" motivated by "extremist ideology."
According to the BBC, citing a local newspaper, they had told their family that they were going out fishing.
The Australian government's first reaction was to announce urgent action on gun ownership regulations. These laws date back thirty years, when another massacre—the Port Arthur massacre, which left 35 dead—led Australia to impose very strict restrictions. Now, Albanese is preparing a crackdown: on the table are more thorough background checks for license applicants, a ban on foreign gun permits, and a restriction on the types of weapons considered legal. The prime minister also rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations that Australia's recognition of the Palestinian state would fuel anti-Semitism. There is no connection, he said, and besides, "the vast majority of the world recognizes the two-state solution as the way forward in the Middle East."
(Unioneonline)