7 OCT 2026Manchester Arena bombing
7 OCT 2026 Wesam Charkawi’s Master’s thesis on radicalisation (WSU)
The Western Sydney University research portal lists a Master's thesis by Wesam Charkawi, "Attitudes towards radicalising to violent extremism among Australian Muslims: role of structures, social dynamics and social identity". Its date of submission is 2017 and its repository handle is http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:45916. The full PDF is listed on the record but was blocked to automated download, so what follows comes from the official abstract.
The abstract says the study "seeks to determine the impact of structures on social identity, as well as the social dynamic, and whether these enhance susceptibility to radicalising towards violence. Potential structures include: damaging political discourse, negative media portrayal, Islamophobia, and racism." It reports that "A survey consisting of 200 participants revealed that, i) alienation increases susceptibility to radicalising to violent extremism, ii) structures give rise to a sense of alienation, iii) the greater the sense of belonging, the greater the rejection of violent dispositions towards the West and its allies".
The findings were later published with WSU academics Kevin Dunn and Ana-Maria Bliuc as "The influences of social identity and perceptions of injustice on support to violent extremism", Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 13(3), 177–196 (2021; publisher copyright 2020). That study surveyed 198 Australian Muslims. It reported that "the greater the sense of belonging and religiosity, the greater the rejection of violent dispositions against the West and its allies".
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7 OCT 2026 Operation Silves – Etihad flight bomb plot, Sydney
On 30 July 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: "I can report last night that there has been a major Joint Counter-Terrorism operation to disrupt a terrorist plot to bring down an airplane." Four people had been arrested, and police searched premises in Surry Hills, Lakemba, Punchbowl and Wiley Park. Extra security measures, first put in place at Sydney Airport, were extended to all major airports, and travellers were told to arrive at least two hours before their flights.
Khaled Khayat and Mahmoud Khayat were each charged with two counts of acting in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. Police alleged that IED components were sent from Turkey with help from an Islamic State commander. They alleged the device was hidden in a meat grinder in the luggage of an unwitting brother flying on an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi on 15 July 2017. SBS reported the plan was abandoned when the luggage was found to be overweight. Police said the device never got into the secure part of the airport. Police also alleged a second plan for a hydrogen sulphide gas device, which they said was "a long way from being functional". AFP Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said: "This is one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil."
Both brothers were convicted of conspiring between January and July 2017 to prepare or plan a terrorist act. On 17 December 2019, Justice Christine Adamson of the NSW Supreme Court sentenced Khaled Khayat to 40 years (non-parole 30) and Mahmoud Khayat to 36 years (non-parole 27). She said: "That no one suffered physical injury or was killed does not make it other than extremely serious." A joint Attorney-General's Department, AFP and Home Affairs submission to Parliament later said the plot "demonstrates the threat from large-scale and complex attack planning has not abated."
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7 OCT 2026 Brighton siege, Melbourne – Yacqub Khayre
On 5 June 2017, at the Buckingham International Serviced Apartments in Brighton, Melbourne, Yacqub Khayre bound a woman he had booked through an escort service. At about 4.10pm he shot receptionist Kai Hao dead in the reception area. Mr Hao was born in China and had become an Australian citizen in 2013. At about 5.41pm Khayre called Channel 7 and said, according to the coroner: “This is the Brighton hostage. This is for IS, this is for Al-Qaeda”. At about 6.02pm he ran out firing a sawn-off shotgun. Special Operations Group officers shot him dead, and three officers were seriously wounded in the exchange of fire. No bomb was found. Khayre had been on parole since 14 December 2016, wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, and had been acquitted in 2010 over the 2009 Holsworthy Barracks plot.
The ABC reported that Islamic State claimed one of its "soldiers" was responsible. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton treated it as a "terrorism incident", but said the IS claim was "the sort of thing they jump up and say a lot". On 6 June, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: "It is a terrorist attack". He asked: "But he was a known violent offender. How was he on parole?" He said parole would be "a high priority at the COAG meeting."
In findings delivered on 20 July 2023, Coroner Audrey Jamieson wrote: "I am unable to make a definitive finding on whether the action he took was tantamount to a terror attack or that it was motivated by extremist ideology." She found that the parole decision and conditions were reasonable and that his supervision on parole was adequate. She made no adverse findings against any party.
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7 OCT 2026 Westminster Bridge attack
On 22 March 2017, Khalid Masood drove a Hyundai Tucson across Westminster Bridge, mounting the pavement several times. He fatally injured Kurt Cochran, Leslie Rhodes, Aysha Frade and Andreea Cristea and seriously injured 29 others. After crashing into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, he ran through Carriage Gates holding two knives and fatally stabbed PC Keith Palmer before plain-clothed armed officers shot him dead. The Chief Coroner's report says the shots were fired "82 seconds after the attack had begun."
In 2018 the Chief Coroner, Mark Lucraft QC, found that all five victims were unlawfully killed. In October 2018 an inquest jury concluded Masood was lawfully killed. In his report on preventing future deaths, the coroner raised concerns that armed officers posted at the Palace were not aware of the requirement to stay close to Carriage Gates. The BBC reported that the Metropolitan Police apologised for the "shortcomings" the coroner identified.
Trish Neis-Beer, a German national and Australian permanent resident from Adelaide, had her foot crushed on the bridge and needed surgery. High Commissioner Alexander Downer said she was "quite cheery" (SBS). In Parliament, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it "was an attack on Parliaments, freedom and democracy everywhere in the world."
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7 OCT 2026 London Bridge attack
At 10.06pm on 3 June 2017, Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba drove a hired van over London Bridge, mounting the footway. Wearing fake suicide vests, they then got out and attacked people around Borough Market with knives strapped to their wrists. Armed police shot all three dead (City of London Police officers fired first, according to the Chief Coroner's report). Eight people were killed: Xavier Thomas, Christine Archibald, James McMullan, Alexandre Pigeard, Kirsty Boden, Sébastien Bélanger, Sara Zelenak and Ignacio Echeverría. The BBC reported 48 injured. The Chief Coroner said: "The lives of many people were torn apart in what took place in less than 10 minutes of high and terrible drama" (SBS).
In 2019 the Chief Coroner, Mark Lucraft, found that all eight victims were unlawfully killed. A jury found the three attackers lawfully killed. The BBC reported that he did not criticise MI5 or police, but did criticise the lack of barriers on the bridge.
Two Australians were killed. Kirsty Boden, 28, was a South Australian nurse. The inquest heard she was stabbed while helping a wounded man. Her family said: "As she ran towards danger, in an effort to help people on the bridge, Kirsty sadly lost her life." Sara Zelenak, 21, was from Queensland and was stabbed near the bridge. Brisbane woman Candice Hedge (throat wound) and Darwin man Andrew Morrison (stabbed in the side of the neck) survived (ABC). Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: "This is the last thing that anyone expect to happen to their children when they are in London" (Guardian).
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7 OCT 2026 Barcelona van attack
On 17 August 2017, Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, drove a rented van at high speed down Barcelona's La Rambla. Contemporary reports put the La Rambla death toll at 13 (SMH, Guardian). He fled on foot, hijacked a car and killed its driver. The next day, five members of the same cell attacked people with knives on the promenade at Cambrils, killing one woman, and police shot all five dead. Abouyaaqoub was shot dead by police on 21 August. The BBC, Guardian and AP (2021) report that the attacks killed 16 people in total, and AP and the Guardian put the number wounded at 140. The Guardian reports that ISIS claimed the attackers as "soldiers of the Islamic State." The day before the attacks, an accidental explosion at a house in Alcanar destroyed the cell's explosives and killed the group's leader, imam Abdelbaki Es Satty.
On 27 May 2021, Spain's Audiencia Nacional sentenced Mohamed Houli Chemlal to 53½ years and Driss Oukabir to 46 years, for offences including belonging to a terrorist organisation and possessing explosives. The BBC reported they will serve no more than 20 years. Said Ben Iazza got eight years for collaborating with a terrorist group. Chemlal and Oukabir were acquitted of terrorist homicide.
Julian Cadman, seven, an Australian-British student at St Bernadette's Catholic Primary, Lalor Park, in Sydney, was killed on La Rambla. His mother was seriously injured. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's office said: "The Australian Government is deeply saddened to confirm that Julian Cadman, a seven year old Australian boy, was among those killed in the terrorist attack in Barcelona." Ms Bishop confirmed four Australians were injured. Sydney woman Suria Intan was reported in a serious condition in hospital (SMH, SBS).
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Brighton siege, Melbourne
On 5 June 2017, Yacqub Khayre shot dead Nick Hao, a 36-year-old receptionist at the Buckingham serviced apartments in Brighton, Melbourne. He held a woman hostage, an escort worker he had called to the building, and three police officers were wounded before police shot him dead. The woman escaped unharmed.
Shortly before the shoot-out, Channel 7's newsroom received a call from a man who said: "This is for IS. This is for Al Qaeda." Islamic State's Amaq outlet later called him one of its "soldiers". Victoria Police chief Graham Ashton said there was no evidence he was acting on a message from overseas.
Khayre was on parole at the time and wearing an electronic monitoring device. In December 2010 a jury had acquitted him over the 2009 plan to attack Holsworthy Army Barracks, for which three other men were convicted. A coronial inquest later examined whether he was properly monitored on parole and whether the attack could have been anticipated or prevented.
See the Holsworthy Barracks Plot node.
Introduction
On 22 May 2017, at 10:31pm, Salman Abedi detonated an improvised explosive device in the foyer of Manchester Arena. An Ariana Grande concert had just ended. Families and young people were leaving, and parents were waiting in the public foyer to collect their children.
Twenty-two victims were killed. The youngest, Saffie-Rose Roussos, was eight. Many more suffered physical and psychological injuries.
His brother, Hashem Abedi, was convicted of the 22 murders for his part in planning the attack. On 20 August 2020 he was sentenced to life with a minimum of 55 years.
Government Response
The Manchester Arena Inquiry examined security arrangements, the emergency response and the intelligence picture before the attack.
In its final volume, published on 2 March 2023, the inquiry identified a significant missed opportunity relating to intelligence. It found a realistic possibility that action could have led to the attack being prevented, though it did not find that prevention was certain.
On 2 March 2023 the Director General of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, apologised publicly. He said he was "profoundly sorry that MI5 did not prevent the attack", and that the service had made major changes since 2017.
The inquiry also identified substantial problems in the multi-agency emergency response.
Australia
In Question Time the next day, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the attack "especially vile, especially criminal, especially horrific because it appears to have been deliberately directed at teenagers", and extended Australia's "heartfelt sympathy and resolute solidarity" to the people of the United Kingdom.
Summary
On 22 May 2017 a suicide bomber killed 22 people in the foyer of Manchester Arena as an Ariana Grande concert ended. Many of the victims were young. His brother was convicted for his role.
The bomb went off where the ticketed concert met the public foyer. Security at that boundary, the intelligence held beforehand and the emergency response all became questions for the inquiry. It found a significant missed opportunity, and a realistic possibility the attack could have been prevented. The head of MI5 apologised.
You be the judge.
