AVERT Webinar - Jihadism and the Bondi attack: Disrupting IS and AQ strategy in 2026

Following the December 2025 terrorist attack in Bondi, those tasked with tackling the threat from the Islamic State and Al Qaeda face challenges in assessing and disrupting online Salafi-Jihadi communications. This webinar will focus on what Salafi-Jihadi groups such as IS and AQ have been communicating to their target audience since the Bondi attack, in particular, how they are distributing that content online and the role AI is playing. In this presentation, we will attempt to understand and analyse IS and AQ content through Jihadi eyes. This requires moving away from a Western lens that has sometimes assumed these groups have a single narrative. Despite premature claims about the supposed defeat of IS, AQ and the Taliban, all three continue to operate and to propagandise complex online messaging to target audiences. As well as exploring elements of this strategy, this webinar will consider options for the disruption of post-Bondi jihadi messaging.