Claim: A video shows Pakistanis celebrating the Bondi Beach shooting.
Fact: The clip is old and shows an event organised in October 2023 by the Imamia Students Organisation, a right-wing Shia student group.
On 15 December, an X user posted a video (archive) purportedly showing Pakistanis celebrating the Bondi Beach mass killing in Sydney, Australia. The post reads: “Celebrations are underway in Naveed Akram’s hometown in Pakistan.
What exactly is the reason behind these celebrations?”
Posts sharing the same footage also appeared here (archive) and here (archive).
Naveed Akram is one of the two suspects behind the Bondi Beach shooting. However, he is not Pakistani as the posts claim.
Soch Fact Check also debunked a claim framing an innocent Pakistani as the suspect.
Bondi Beach Massacre
Two gunmen opened fire at crowds celebrating the first day of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on 14 December. The attack, which was carried out at one of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia, killed 15 people. Among them was a child, while the age of victims ranged from 10 to 87 years old. At least 40 others were injured and hospitalised, with many in critical condition.
Authorities said a 50 year-old father and a 24 year-old son were responsible for the attack while describing it as an act of terrorism. Australian publication ABC News reported that the perpetrator was identified as Sajid Akram, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police, and his son, Naveed Akram, who was wounded and hospitalised. He was later released from the hospital and transferred to prison.
“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. An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian, and every Australian tonight will be, like me, devastated on this attack, on our way of life,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a statement to address the attack.
Initially, reports said the shooter, Naveed Akram, was Australian-born. His father, Sajid, had immigrated to Australia in 1998 and entered the country on a student visa. “Later, in 2001, he transferred to a partner visa and subsequently obtained Resident Return Visas after trips overseas,” the BBC reported.
Their home “is on a quiet residential street in Bonnyrigg, an outer suburb of Sydney,” according to the New York Times.
However, initial news reports citing the authorities did not immediately confirm the father’s nationality, who was shot dead by the police.
On 16 December, authorities said the attack was inspired by the ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). At a press conference, officials added that the suspects’ vehicle contained two homemade ISIS flags and improvised explosive devices.
Reports from 16 December, which cited officials, also confirmed that the duo had travelled to a part of the Philippines in November 2025 where ISIS is reportedly active.
Philippine authorities said that Sajid was reportedly travelling on an Indian passport, and his son was on an Australian passport. The reason for the trip is being probed.
The BBC, quoting the Indian police, reported that Sajid Akram was from Hyderabad, India. The dead gunman had limited contact with his family in India and they had no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, Reuters reported, citing the Telangana state police.
On 17 December, the surviving suspect Naveed Akram was charged with 59 offences, including murder and terrorism.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found that it predates the recent shooting in Australia.
An X user posted the same video (archive) on 9 October 2023, with the following description: “Pro-Palestinian supporters gather in Karachi, Pakistan to celebrate attack against #Israel.
They were chanting “Palestine Zindabad”. We all Pakistanis Are supporting #Palestine.”
The scenes here match the video being fact-checked as shown in the comparative visual below:
Left: Post sharing the video after the Bondi Beach shooting. Right: The same clip that appeared in October 2023.
Another user also posted the same video on X (archive) on 8 October 2023, confirming that it predates the Bondi Beach shooting, which took place on 14 December 2025.
The caption of this post reads: “Celebrating the victory of HAMAS at Karachi Pakistan. Organised by ‘Imamia Student Organisation’. #طوفان_الأقصى”
The description above indicated that the Imamia Students Organization Pakistan (ISO), a Karachi-based student right-wing Shia student group, had organised the gathering. The flags held by the crowd in the video also match the ISO flag, available on its website and shown below:
On the left is the flag from the event depicted in the clip from October 2023, which matches the one on the right, available on ISO’s website.
Taking cues from this, Soch Fact Check found and scoured the group’s official X account. An event was indeed organised by the ISO in October 2023, according to their X post on 9 October 2023. It included footage (archive) of the same event from a different angle along with the following caption:
“Presenting you glimpses of the ‘Grand Celebration of Resistance and Solidarity with Palestinians’ held at Numaish Chowrangi in Karachi yesterday.”
Both videos from 2023 feature people holding ISO flags. Moreover, a key geographic similarity in both clips is an advertisement board for Sting and the building. The Sting advertisement is not visible in the 2021 street view, but the building and landmarks are. The geolocation for both 2023 clips is 24.87301035871964, 67.03587841024215.
Moreover, the group posted a statement on Facebook on 17 December, refuting the claim that the clip circulating online was linked to the Bondi shooting [translated from Urdu into English]:
“India’s propaganda against Pakistan will not succeed
The brazen attempt by Indian circles to link the peaceful video of the program organized by ISO Karachi in October 2023 at Numaish Chowrangi in connection with the recent tragic terrorist incident in Sydney is based on complete deviation from the facts and is based on malice. This move is not only a serious lack of information, but also a shameful example of propaganda to target Pakistan.
Spokesperson ISO Karachi Region”.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, rates the claim as false; the video depicts an event held in October 2023, and not after the Bondi Beach shooting.
Virality
The video was shared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
On Facebook, the clip was shared here and on Instagram here.
Conclusion: The video does not show Pakistanis celebrating the Bondi Beach shooting. The clip is old and shows an event organised by Karachi-based student group Imamia Students Organisation, in October 2023.
Background image in cover photo: Al Jazeera
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