An Australian man who set fire to a truck laden with gas cylinders in the center of Melbourne and stabbed one person to death was inspired by Islamic State but did not have direct links with the group, police said on Saturday.
Police identified the man responsible for Friday’s attack as Somali-born Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, 30, and said he was radicalized and inspired by the militant group’s propaganda. He was shot by police and died in hospital.
Police said Shire Ali’s Australian passport was canceled in 2015 after an intelligence report he planned to travel to Syria, but an assessment was made that while he had radical views, he posed no threat to national security.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which came two days before Remembrance Day, marking 100 years since the end of World War One, without providing any evidence.
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