Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, the mosque dwelling Tamil Muslim named as LynnMall terrorist, follows in the footsteps of other New Zealand jihadi to have lived at mosques here in NZ. Samsudeen was staying at the e-Bilal mosque in Glen Eden. Mark John Taylor had stayed at Hamilton’s Jamia mosque. The members of the Aotearoa Maori Muslim Association, later rebranded as Islamic State of New Zealand, frequently stayed on site at mosques around the country during their recruitment drives.
Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen injured 7 people in a LynnMall grocery store with a knife while yelling Allahu Akbar, and was shot dead on site on Friday afternoon.
This Tamil Muslim named as LynnMall terrorist isn’t the first foreigner to be radicalised here in New Zealand. An Australian young man who was radicalised at the Christchurch mosque was killed along with another Christchurch convert in a drone strike while fighting in Yemen.
Why did this Tamil Muslim named as LynnMall terrorist carry out his attack? from the Quran:
We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve… And if you are killed in the cause of God or die – then forgiveness from God and mercy are better than whatever they accumulate [in this world]. And whether you die or are killed, unto God you will be gathered.
A timeline of Samsudeen’s stay in New Zealand after arriving on a student visa and later as a refugee follows:
THE SUPERMARKET TERRORIST
* Aathil Samsudeen came to NZ in 2011, escaping a tortuous regime in Sri Lanka
* He was granted refugee status in 2013 but within five years had become angry and isolated
* He was the perfect candidate to be radicalised in his own living room, through Isis-inspired social media influences
* He was caught trying to travel to Syria in 2017 and a raid on his Queen St apartment uncovered a large hunting knife and disturbing, extremist images, videos and songs
* The Herald has previously reported police tried to charge Samsudeen for allegedly plotting a “lone wolf” style knife attack, but could not because of a longstanding gap in NZ’s counter-terrorism law.
* Authorities have been trying to have his refugee status revoked and for him to be deported since 2018
* Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last night expressed her frustration and disappointment over the process
The Islamic State supporter who stabbed at least five shoppers in an Auckland supermarket before being shot dead can now be identified – and along with it the full story of how a young man who turned to New Zealand for help as a refugee became radicalised in his own living room.
He was Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, a 32-year-old born in Sri Lanka who came to New Zealand in October 2011 and was granted refugee status two years later.
The Herald can reveal immigration officials had sought to revoke his refugee status in 2018, but he appealed and a final decision had yet to be made on whether he could be deported.
His uncertain immigration status was also the reason why the terrorist could not be identified until 11pm Saturday night, when it was lifted by a High Court judge, as anyone claiming refugee status cannot be identified by law.
Samsudeen was Tamil – a minority ethnic group persecuted by Sri Lankan authorities during a decades-long conflict – and claimed he and his father were attacked, kidnapped and tortured because of their political background.
TERROR ATTACK LATEST
* Seven people were injured in yesterday’s attacks. Five are in hospital – three critically hurt – and two are recovering at home
* The attack lasted up to two and a half minutes before the man was shot by police
* The man’s surveillance team couldn’t tail him closely because alert level restrictions meant less people were in the supermarket, making the “highly paranoid” man hard to follow closely
* The man had been tailed for 53 days, involving up to 30 police officers
* More details will be released once suppression lapses overnight tonight although Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she will never say his name
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has released further details about what authorities knew about the terrorist shot dead after a violent attack at an Auckland mall.
The attack at Countdown at Lynn Mall left seven people injured, five of whom are in hospital. Three of the five hospitalised are in a critical condition, the remaining two are recovering at home.
In the hours after the attack, attention was focused on what the Government, the courts and our police knew about the violent extremist and what lengths authorities went to to keep the community safe from him.
Information released by Ardern today allows us to build a history of the attacker’s time in New Zealand.
Until suppression is lifted, he is known as S.
The lone-wolf terrorist shot dead in an Auckland supermarket by police yesterday had been released on bail and was facing other charges for assaulting prison guards while in custody.
The 32-year-old man is a known Islamic State sympathiser and wounded six shoppers, three critically, during a frenzied knife attack at a Countdown in New Lynn.
After taking a knife from a supermarket shelf he was fatally shot by police 60 seconds after the attack began. Police were on the scene quickly because of a constant operation to monitor his activities by authorities, which included a surveillance team and members of the elite Special Tactics Group.
The terrorist is known only as “S” because of a 2018 suppression order, which the Crown urgently applied to the High Court last night to have revoked. Justice Edwin Wylie lifted suppression but delayed it coming into effect by 24 hours to give S’ family an opportunity to seek suppression orders of their own.
Members of S’ family were not notified of the attack until late last night when phoned by a lawyer.
An identical suppression order in the District Court was also lifted this morning by Judge Peter Winter and aligned with the timing of the High Court’s order.
Last month the Herald revealed S had been on police’s radar for several years and was considered a threat to public safety for allegedly planning an attack. The Crown had attempted to charge him under the under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 last year, but a High Court judge ruled that preparing a terrorist attack was not in itself an offence under the legislation.
He first came to the attention of authorities in 2016 for the Islamic State-related material he was posting on social media and accessing online, some of which he has been charged and convicted for. Concerns were also raised after he twice bought two large hunting knives.
The Herald can now reveal S was facing two further charges for assaulting Corrections’ staff while he was in custody awaiting his High Court trial.
He was in the community after being released on bail on July 16 by an Auckland District Court judge. The judge was left with little to no legal options but to release S on bail, sources have told the Herald, because he had already spent years in custody on charges for possessing objectionable material, possession of an offensive weapon and failing to comply with a police search.
S was accused of assault with intent to injure and injuring with intent for the attack on the Corrections’ officers. He applied for bail a little over a week after he was sentenced by the High Court to supervision on July 6.
The Crown indicated today it will ask for the assault charges against S to be withdrawn and for a stay on proceedings from the Solicitor-General.
The terrorist had been found guilty by a jury on May 26 for possessing objectionable material — two nasheeds (hymns and chants).
One of the nasheeds referenced martyrdom, featured a black-clad fighter with a machine gun, Isis flag, and lyrics advocating for Jihad and decapitation.
The other, titled “We came to fill horror everywhere”, depicts men dressed in black with assault rifles, the Isis flag and a city on fire.
S was acquitted on charges for allegedly possessing a graphic video depicting a prisoner of Islamic State being decapitated and possession of an offensive weapon, a hunting knife.
He was also found guilty of failing to comply with a police search.
The material was declared objectionable by the Chief Censor for promoting acts of extreme violence, cruelty and terrorism. It was only the second time the Office of Film and Literature Classification was asked to look at Isis-related material.
In his own words when giving evidence at trial, S claimed he was interested only in the centuries-old Islamic State.
According to a report prepared for his sentencing, however, S had “the means and motivation to commit violence in the community”.
His year of supervision was to be spent at a West Auckland mosque.
As part of his sentence, S was barred from having an internet-capable device without the approval of a probation officer and required to surrender any devices and social media for police to check.
He was also ordered to undergo a psychological assessment.
Terrorist’s internet history
S’ internet history, the court heard at his trial, also revealed chilling searches.
Some of the searches had been electronically bookmarked. They included “safety and security guidelines for lone-wolf mujahideen”, looking for a hunting knife, camouflage pants, Islamic State dress and New Zealand prison clothes and food.
The internet history on S’ devices further revealed a booklet for Isis operatives to help them avoid detection by Western countries’ security and intelligence agencies.
“How to survive in the west a mujahid guide,” was another Google search.
An internet video, the trial heard, purported to provide instructions on “How to attack kuffar and how to make explosive devices”. Kuffar, or kafir, is an Arabic term used to describe an infidel or non-believer.
S first came to New Zealand in October 2011 from Sri Lanka.
In 2016 police took notice of “staunchly anti-Western and violent” material being posted on his Facebook page.
There were videos and pictures depicting graphic war-related violence, comments advocating for violent extremism and support for Isis terrorists involved in the Paris attacks in November 2015 and the Brussels bombing in March 2016.
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