Mr Andisha says Abdul Numan Haider’s family is shocked at the incident which led to his death and the he was a troubled young man who needed help and support but fell prey to extremists who took advantage of him.
The teenager, who would have turned 18 next February, was shot dead after stabbing two police officers outside a police station at Endeavour Hills, in outer Melbourne. Police had asked him to come in, concerned at his recent activities and links to people with extremist views. His passport had been cancelled.
An extended version of the interview will be available here after the 6.30pm World News Broadcast.
Abdul Numan Haider was the youngest of three sons. His two older brothers are studying at university.
His father had studied in Australia in the 1970s and moved back to Afghanistan after graduating from the University of Adelaide. When civil unrest grew in his home country, the father returned with wife and his young family, under the sponsorship of friends, living first in Adelaide and then in Melbourne.
Mr Andisha says Numan Haider had joined up with people who had extremist ideas – with which his family had no connection – at a time when he was struggling.
“It seems that this man was disturbed, disillusioned, and he needed more help, guidance, counselling, a helping hand to help him out through this difficult, time, phase, period in his life and to be another ordinary person,” the ambassador says.
He says he believes some disillusioned young people are being attracted to the organisation calling itself Islamic State because it offers what he calls “a five-star jihad” which runs a sophisticated media campaign and offers access to the trappings of modern life .
“It attracts younger people and it basically has more facilities for them, they can take their families”, he says.
That’s in contrast with life among the Taliban and al Qaeda who lived in tribal compounds and caves in the wilderness.
“It's nothing that a youngster from Manchester, or from Sydney, could endure, being in the caves, every time you have drones over you and intelligence agencies around you.. it was very difficult, it was a very hard-core fight. But on the contrast, being in Syria and Iraq they have much better facilities, the infrastructure is better, you have electricity, you have access to fast food.”
The ambassador says the Afghan community in Australia is as concerned about recent incidents involving expatriate Afghans as the rest of the community.
“We distance ourselves from this, we denounce this activity, we want to live in peace and harmony and bring up our children in a multicultural society. We are looking for a better future for our children.”
