No 'single' sign could have prevented Christchurch attack, says report

In an 800-page report released by New Zealand on the March 2019 killing of 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in the city of Christchurch said that authorities "could not have been" alerted of the attack.

"No single aspect of it could have alerted public sector agencies to an impending terrorist attack," the Royal Commission report said on Tuesday.

According to Al Jazeera, the report raised the issue with authorities for deploying "an inappropriate concentration of resources" in probing religious violence in the country. The inquiry was formed to look into the response of the authorities to determine whether the attack could have been prevented.

"Ultimately, this roughly 800-page report can be distilled into one simple premise: Muslim New Zealanders should be safe. Anyone who cause New Zealand harm regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, should be safe," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday following the release of the report.

"New Zealanders deserve a system that does its best to keep you safe, and that's what we are committed to building," she added.

Brenton Tarrant carried out the attack in 2019 and live-streamed the killing on social media. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole earlier this year. According to the report, a year before the attack, Tarrant was found to have shown "hallmarks of steroid overuse" and had not shown any interest in giving up the use of testosterone.

Al Jazeera further reported that Ardern had promised "accountability" for the families of the victims following the worst mass killings in the country's history.

"I absolutely appreciate the community will want to see accountability in terms of implementation. They will want to see who is responsible for coordinating some of those efforts ... and we will be providing that," Ardern told a regular media briefing.

The report took about 18 months to finish and contains interviews with hundreds of people including security agencies, Muslim community leaders, international experts and officials in England, Norway and Australia, as well as with Ardern, it was reported further.

On March 15, Brenton, a suspected white supremacist from Australia, stormed into two mosques during congregational prayers and indiscriminately opened fire on the assembled.

The act of terrorism left the entire Muslim community shaken, with the international community and locals showing their solidarity with the affected. At least five Indians, including three from Gujarat, were killed in the terror attack.

( With inputs from ANI )