Pakistani origin man falsely linked to Sydney attack in online misinformation campaign

 

SYDNEY: Following a recent attack in Sydney’s Bondi Beach, what officials describe as a coordinated fake news and propaganda campaign has emerged, allegedly driven by Israeli, Indian and Afghan media outlets, aimed at misleading the global audience about the identity of the attacker.

Australian media initially reported that the attacker in Sydney’s Bondi Beach was named Naveed Akram. However, soon after, Israeli, Indian and Afghan media outlets began circulating the photograph of a different individual, identifying him as Sheikh Naveed, and falsely portraying him as the attacker involved in the Sydney incident.

In response, Sheikh Naveed, a resident of New South Wales, took to social media to publicly reject the claims and expose what he termed a deliberate propaganda campaign. He stated that his photograph was being wrongly used to label him as the attacker in Sydney, despite having no connection to the incident.

“Sheikh Naveed” said Israeli, Indian and Afghan media outlets were spreading false information by displaying his image and urged people not to fall for misleading propaganda related to the Sydney attack. He clarified that the circulating images had no link to the actual attacker identified by Australian authorities.

The young man, who is originally from Lahore, issued a public appeal on social media, calling on international audiences to verify facts through credible Australian sources and refrain from sharing unverified content linked to the Sydney incident.

He stressed that the spread of false images and narratives not only damages individual reputations but also fuels misinformation at a global level, especially in sensitive cases such as the Sydney attack.

Gunmen Kill 11 on Sydney’s Bondi Beach

Earlier, two gunmen shot and killed 11 people and wounded many others Sunday at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in what police labeled a terrorist attack on a gathering for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Emergency responders rushed at least 29 people to local hospitals from the beach, one of the biggest tourist draws in Australia’s largest city, said New South Wales police.

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith — an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

“An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian,” he added, hailing ordinary citizens who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen as “heroes”.

Police declared the shooting a “terrorist incident” and said they had found suspected “improvised explosive devices” in a vehicle near the beach that was linked to the deceased suspect.

One of the alleged shooters was killed, and the second was in a critical condition, they added.