Islamic State has published a detailed tribute to the Bondi Beach massacre, praising the alleged father-and-son attackers as soldiers of the faith and explicitly urging its followers to treat the attack as a template for similar strikes against Jewish and Western targets.
The seven-page feature, titled The Sydney Attack: The Revenge of the Oppressed Ummah, appeared in the terror group’s English-language Voice of Khurasan newsletter and was seen by The Australian. It includes photographs of the alleged attackers — Sajid and Naveed Akram — alongside images of mourners at the beach where 15 people were killed and dozens more wounded.
“The Sydney attack was only a pebble from a mountain; we will continue to kill, by the permission of Allah, until you grow weary of burying the dead,” the newsletter stated. The article goes on to frame the attack as a dual victory — both a physical blow against what it described as “Jews and their supporters” and a strike against what it called “intellectual invasion.” It claimed the attack demonstrated to Muslims worldwide that “the path to salvation and the honour of Islam” lay in following the example set by the Akrams.
The newsletter branded Muslims who condemned the attack as “shameful,” asserting that in Islamic State’s interpretation there is “no such thing as a non-combatant Kafir.” The Akrams have previously been described by the group as “brave lions.”
Counter-terrorism experts in Australia have reacted with alarm. Levi West, a specialist at the Australian National University, told The Australian that the article was precisely the kind of material that had underpinned the previous wave of Islamic State-inspired attacks in the West. “What we have seen since the Gaza war is a trend line of increased attacks on Jews and targets across the West,” he said. “These articles are the kinds of things that inspire people to act and are a reminder that counter-terrorism has to be a significant aspect of what our national security posture looks like.”
Australian terror analysts believe the attack itself was inspired by a 2024 Islamic State speech calling on Muslims to turn Jewish and Christian celebrations into “bloody massacres.”
Naveed Akram, 24, remains in custody facing close to 60 charges, including 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder. He also faces charges of discharging a firearm in public, displaying a prohibited terrorist symbol and placing an explosive near a building with intent to cause harm. Court documents allege the pair had three pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb in their possession at the time of the attack. His father Sajid, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.
