Emerging Patterns in Global Terrorism: Links Between Bondi Beach and Washington Attacks Point to India-Afghanistan Nexus

Islamabad, December 24, 2025 – Emerging evidence from two devastating attacks in the West – the December 14 Bondi Beach terrorist shooting in Sydney that killed 15 people during a Hanukkah celebration, and the November 26 ambush on U.S. National Guard members in Washington, D.C., where Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal killed one soldier and critically wounded another – reveals disturbing similarities pointing to an escalating India-Afghanistan nexus fueling anti-Western extremism, with tactical echoes of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In the Bondi attack, father-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram, of Indian-origin Muslim background from Hyderabad, carried out a meticulously planned ISIS-inspired assault.

Court documents reveal they threw multiple homemade improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including pipe bombs and a "tennis ball bomb," which failed to detonate, alongside firearms training and reconnaissance visits. These undetonated explosives bear striking resemblance to TTP's signature tactics: low-cost, homemade bombs using everyday materials like pipes, pressure cookers, or improvised containers, often designed to maximize panic even when failing partially.

The D.C. attack involved Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan from Khost province – a longstanding TTP hotspot – who had worked with CIA-backed Afghan forces before resettling in the U.S. in 2021. Lakanwal drove cross-country to execute a targeted ambush near the White House, shouting "Allahu Akbar" while firing. While no explosives were used, his profile aligns with TTP recruitment patterns from eastern Afghanistan, and sources indicate possible radicalization tied to militant networks.

What binds these incidents? Both perpetrators have roots in regions influenced by the deepening India-Afghanistan alignment, which Pakistani and regional analysts describe as enabling anti-Pakistan militancy, including TTP sanctuaries. The Akrams' Indian-Muslim heritage and the Bondi plot's sophistication suggest potential ideological or logistical spillover from networks allegedly supported via Afghan soil.

Recent high-level Afghan engagements in India raise further concerns. In October 2025, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made a groundbreaking visit to New Delhi, meeting External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to discuss trade, security, and diplomatic ties – the highest-level contact since 2021. This was followed in November by Industry and Commerce Minister Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi leading a delegation to the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2025, promoting investments amid Pakistan-Afghanistan border tensions. These back-to-back ministerial visits – at least three in late 2025 – signal warming relations, with India upgrading its Kabul mission to full embassy status.

Critics, including Pakistani officials, allege this nexus provides cover for India to indirectly bolster groups like TTP against Pakistan, with sanctuaries in Afghanistan's Kunar, Nuristan, and Khost provinces. UN reports confirm TTP's operational freedom there, and intelligence links sophisticated arms and training to cross-border support. The export of TTP-style IED tactics to Bondi, combined with an Afghan perpetrator in D.C., suggests this alliance may be facilitating broader radicalization targeting Western interests.

Australian authorities are probing the Bondi duo's pre-attack trip to the Philippines for possible training, while U.S. investigators examine Lakanwal's mental health and assimilation struggles alongside potential militant ties. President Trump has responded with immigration reviews and additional troops, labeling the D.C. incident terrorism.

As global leaders condemn these attacks, the pattern demands scrutiny: frequent Afghan-India engagements coinciding with exported violence using TTP methods. Pakistan has urged international action against cross-border terrorism, warning that unchecked nexuses threaten worldwide security.