 "Bondi beach killings a ‘source of pride’: Islamic State celebrates Australia shooting that killed 15")
Islamic State, the group linked to Australia’s Bondi Beach shooting, has said that the massacre that killed 15 people is a “source of pride”, but fell short of claiming responsibility for the attack.
Earlier this week, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the mass shooting was "motivated" by the Islamic State ideology. Sajid Akram and his son Naveed opened fire on Jewish crowds thronging the famous beach for Hanukkah on Sunday evening, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more.
What is the Islamic State?
The Islamic State is a group comprised of Sunni Muslims that found its roots in Iraq and Syria and quickly created a “caliphate,” declaring its rule over all Muslims and largely displacing al Qaeda.
At the height of its power from 2014-2017, it held swathes of the two countries, ruling over millions of people. It had a base only a 30-minute drive from Baghdad, and also held the city of Sirte on Libya’s Mediterranean coast.
After being ousted from its bases in the Syrian city of Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, the group took refuge in the hinterlands of the two fractured countries.
It retains a significant presence in Syria and Iraq, parts of Africa, including the Sahel region, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Fighters are scattered in autonomous cells, IS leadership is clandestine and its overall size is hard to quantify. The UN estimates a membership of 10,000 in IS heartlands.
Islamic State wants to spread its extreme form of Islam, but has adopted new tactics since the collapse of its forces and a string of other setbacks in West Asia.
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View AllIt is now a disparate group often operating through affiliates and sympathisers.
Australia cracks down on hate speech
The Bondi Beach attack in Australia has prompted the government to strengthen hate speech laws that are used to target religious preachers and create laws to screen visas of those who spread “hate and division."
Albanese on Thursday announced the measures as a response to the deadly mass shooting incident during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
The country has already been under immense pressure to tackle cases of antisemitism, with Albanese conceding that he could have done more to combat anti-Jewish sentiment in Australia following Hamas’s October 7 attack in Israel.
Albanese convened the national security committee on Thursday morning and said that the government supports Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, in this endeavour.
With inputs from agencies
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