Australian knife attack ‘inspired’ by terror group

A SOMALI-BORN Australian who went on a deadly knife rampage in the country’s second-largest city Melbourne was inspired by Islamic State but did not have a direct link to the jihadist group, the government said yesterday.

Hassan Khalif Shire Ali stabbed to death well-known local cafe co-owner Sisto Malaspina and injured two other men in Bourke Street in the heart of Melbourne on Friday afternoon before he was shot and killed by police.

The 30-year-old had gone to the bustling city in a utility vehicle filled with gas cylinders before setting it alight.

Islamic State said via its propaganda arm that Shire Ali was an “Islamic State fighter and carried out the operation,” but provided no evidence to back its claim.

“The working theory is at the moment a case where this person has been downloading information or receiving messages in his own mind about what he should be doing,” Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said.

“It’s inspired as opposed to an affiliation or membership.”

Drug and alcohol issues

Shire Ali, known to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, had his passport revoked in 2015 on fears he was trying to travel to Syria to join IS.

But he was also assessed by authorities as not being a domestic threat.

Dutton defended the actions of ASIO, saying they had more than 400 investigations and people of interest to monitor.

“Particularly where you have someone who can grab a knife from a kitchen drawer ... it is impossible for authorities to cover every one of those circumstances,” he said.

Dutton’s comments came as Melbourne’s Herald Sun reported yesterday that Shire Ali had drug and alcohol problems, and had split from his wife and become distanced from his family.

Melbourne’s The Age raised questions about his mental health, quoting a local imam as saying Shire Ali told him he was being “chased by unseen people with spears.”

Meanwhile more than US$36,000 has been raised on GoFundMe for a bystander dubbed “trolley man,” who was hailed as a hero for trying to stop Shire Ali by knocking him over with a shopping cart.

The man, named in local media as Michael Rogers, is homeless.