Islamic State

The Islamic State movement self-describe as "Islamic" but their religious beliefs are an unusual derivative of Islam, that has been rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, including Islamic terrorists and Islamic extremists. ^[1] Progressive and conservative Muslims alike describe the ideology of the Islamic State as "deviant". ^{[2] [3]} The Islamic State excommunicate other Muslims, calling them infidels or apostates. ^[1]

Islamic State militants violently oppose – and are violently opposed by – many of the groups that are listed terrorist organisations in Australia's Criminal Code, ^[4] Such as al-Qaeda, ^[1] the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), ^[5] Hezbollah (listed since 2021), ^[6] Hamas (listed since 2022), ^[7] and Iran's IRGC (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, listed in November 2025). ^[4]

Some of their most deadly attacks have been against Shia Muslims, including civilian and military targets in Iran, a Shia-led Islamic Republic. ^{[8] [9]} Iran charges Islamic State militants with "waging war against God" ( Moharebeh ) and terrorism against civilians, among other crimes. ^{[8] [10]} The ideology of the Islamic State rejects the concept of nation-states and cultural identity. ^[1] Followers of the Islamic State ideology, including in Sydney, have no interest in recognition of rival states. ^[11] Symbols such as national flags are shuned by the movement. ^[12] One violent manifestation of this opposition to nationalism is the active armed conflict between Islamic State's Khorasan "Province" (ISK) and the Taliban in Central Asia, whom ISK ridicule as "filthy nationalists". ^{[13] [14] [15]}

Australian migrants to the Islamic State

Prior to the Bondi attack, one of the most significant Islamic State-related problems faced by the Australian government were the family members of Islamic State fighters from Australia, who remain in detention camps in the Middle East, in Kurdistan and neighbouring regions. ^[16] ASIO estimates that over 200 Australians migrated to the unrecognised state / illegitimate Caliphate founded by the Islamic State movement while they controlled territory in Iraq and Syria. ^{[17] [18]} Young boys who have been there nearly a decade are transferred to the mens prison when they reach military age. The survivors are mostly widows and children, most of the men died of the battlefield or were killed in targeted strikes. ^{[19] [20]} The are also a few remaining Islamic State fighters from Australia who have been confirmed alive or remain unaccounted for. The Australian Government have been criticised for treating the ongoing situation as somebody else's problem. ^[17]

2014

• April 2014 – Sabina Selimovic and Samra Kesinovic go missing.
• 23 September 2014 – 2014 Endeavour Hills stabbings: Two counter-terrorism police officers stabbed. Perpetrator shot dead.
• 18 September 2014 – The Australian Federal Police, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Queensland Police and New South Wales Police launched the largest counterterrorism operation in Australian history. The targets were IS-linked networks thought to be planning to launch mass-casualty attacks in populated areas. Fifteen people were arrested in the raids with one being charged with terrorism offenses. ^{[21] [22]}

• 3 October 2014 – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that Australia would contribute eight F/A-18F Super Hornets to aid the war effort against Islamic extremists in Iraq. The aircraft join a KC-30A Tanker and an E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft already deployed. ^[23]

• 29 October 2014 – Australian IS leader and recruiter Mohammad Ali Baryalei was confirmed to have been killed. ^[24]

• 15 December 2014 – Lindt Cafe siege: in Sydney, by Man Haron Monis. Allegedly an IS supporter who pledged allegiance to the group held 18 hostages at a café at the APA Building in Martin Place, Sydney, Australia. One hostage was murdered during the siege and one killed by a bullet ricochet from a police officer during the subsequent raid. Perpetrator shot dead by police during raid.

2015

• 11 March 2015 – Jake Bilardi (an 18-year-old Italian Australian from Melbourne, also known as Abu Abdullah al-Australi, and dubbed Jihad Jake by the media) killed himself in a truck bombing against the Iraqi army, after migrating to Iraq to join an ISIS-affiliated group. ^{[25] [26]}
• 20 April 2015 – An 18-year-old from New Zealand joins IS and is reported missing. ^[27] New Zealand and Australia are concerned about IS-related terrorism at Anzac day. ^{[28] [29] [30]}
• 9 September 2015 – Joshua Ryne Goldberg, a Jewish American internet troll, was arrested for planning a bombing in Kansas City while posing as an Australian ISIS supporter. A 17-year-old Melbourne teenager who had been in contact with Goldberg pleaded guilty to preparing a terror attack, after bombs were found in his home. ^{[31] [32]} Goldberg's ISIS persona also attempted to incite mass shootings in Australia. ^{[33] [34] [35]} Goldberg reportedly set up a fake account in the name of Australian Muslim preacher Junaid Thorne. Goldberg also created multiple fake jihadist accounts, which interacted with the fake Thorne account, and he then sent screengrabs of the fabricated interactions to journalists, at least one of whom published the fake interaction in an article of The West Australian in April 2015. ^{[36] [37]} The fake jihadist personas were also used to besmirch Amnesty International and the Human Rights Law Centre by claiming that the fake jihadists had employment ties, or donated money to, these organizations. ^[36]
• 14 September 2015 – Two Australian Hornet fighter aircraft destroyed an IS armoured personnel carrier with a precision-guided missile in east Syria. ^[38]
• 25 November 2015 – Samra Kesinovic, an Austrian teenager who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, is reported dead, having been beaten to death by the group after trying to escape from Raqqa. Her companion, Sabina Selimovic, was reported to have been killed in fighting in Syria in September. ^[39]

2016

• 31 January 2016 – A prominent Australian IS member's death is reported. Neil Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, was involved in the group's online recruitment activities. ^[40]
• 6 February 2016 – An Australian man is deported from India after Indira Gandhi International Airport security personnel reportedly find pro-IS material on his laptop. ^[41]

2017

• Isaac El Matari jailed in Lebanon. ^[42]
• By 2017 the Islamic State had lost 90% of their territory. ^[43]
• 15 July 2017 – Failed Islamic State–linked plan to bomb an Etihad Airways flight departing Sydney for Abu Dhabi. ^[44] Brothers Mahmoud and Khaled Khayat in Sydney planted a bomb in luggage belonging to their brother Amer Khayat, using parts sent to them by a forth brother, Tarek Khayat, from overseas. Amer was found not guilty, he was used as an unwitting proxy, possibly because his brothers disapproved of his drinking and other habits. ^{[45] [46] [47] [48]}

2018

• August 2018 – Australia stripped the Australian citizenship from five terrorists who had travelled to fight with the Islamic State and barred them from entering Australia again. ^[49] This was only possible because they had double citizenships because international law stops the measure from being used on individuals with only one citizenship. The five brought the total to six. ^[50]
• 9 November 2018 – a man named Hassan Khalif Shire Ali went on a stabbing spree in Melbourne Australia. The attack took place on a crowded Melbourne street where he attacked and killed a police officer with a knife and light bulb. The attacker also injured two other bystanders until he was eventually killed by law enforcement. The perpetrator supported IS and IS also took responsibility for the attack. ^{[51] [52]}

March 2019

The Islamic State were declared "defeated" in Iraq and Syria by their opponents. ^{[53] [54] [55]}

On 15 March 2019 – An Australian terrorist killed 51 people in the Christchurch shooting, inspired by the antisemitic Great Replacement conspiracy theory and the death of an 11-year-old girl in an ISIS attack. The Christchurch attack featured in Islamic State propaganda with Abu Hassan al-Muhajir calling for attacks on the “nations of the Cross and the apostate” in retaliation for the attack. ^[56]

ASIO investigations in 2019

Youssef Uweinat (an associate of Naveed) was convicted of terrorism and imprisoned, for attempting to recruit minors to carry out attacks for Islamic State. ^{[57] [58]}

2024

2025

Citations

Sources

• Hoffman, Bruce (17 December 2025). "The Bondi Beach Shooting Shows ISIS Threat in Australia and Beyond". www.cfr.org. Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 8 January 2026.
• Khalil, Lydia. "What we know about the Bondi attack". www.lowyinstitute.org. Lowy Institute.