Father-son gunmen Sajid and Naveed Akram traveled to the Philippines to receive “military-style training” the month before they murdered 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, security sources have confirmed.
The revelation comes later According to ABC, Naveed Akram, 24, had long-standing ties to members of the Australian pro-Islamic State (IS) network. – including famed jihadist spiritual leader Wisam Haddad and convicted ISIS youth recruiter Youssef Uweinat.
Through a lawyer, Mr Haddad said he “vehemently denies any knowledge of or involvement in the shootings which took place at Bondi Beach”.
Investigators are currently examining the Akrams' ties to an international jihadist network, after discovering that the two men had traveled to Manila in early November, according to officials briefed on the investigation.
Naveed and Sajid Akram then traveled to the southern Philippines and underwent militant training, a senior counterterrorism official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Philippine Bureau of Immigration confirmed that the two arrived in the Philippines from Australia on November 1, declaring the southern city of Davao as their destination.
“They left the country on November 28, 2025 on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination,” Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said.
Ms Sandoval said Sajid Akram entered the country on an Indian passport, while her son, Naveed Akram, entered the country on an Australian passport.
Davao is the capital of Mindanao, the southern Philippine island, which has been a hotbed of Islamist militants since the 1990s.
Security sources have not confirmed the exact location and movements of the two men in the southern Philippines.
Australia's intelligence agency ASIO investigated Naveed Akram in 2019 over his associations with members of a Sydney-based IS terror cell, the ABC revealed yesterday.
A senior security source said Naveed Akram, then 18, exhibited “indications of intent” and associations of concern which were the subject of an ASIO investigation in 2019, but further investigations were not deemed necessary at the time.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday evening's 7:30 p.m. program that ASIO found “no evidence” during a six-month investigation that either father or son had been radicalized.
The men were not on a terrorism watch list before the attack, nor was Sajid Akram – a licensed gun owner – blocked from legally accessing firearms.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was asked on Radio National today whether the pair's trip to the Philippines had attracted the attention of Australia's national security agencies, but he did not answer the question directly.
Mr Burke said that since ASIO's investigation into Naveed Akram in 2019, “there has been a step change in this individual's risk profile”.
The ABC revealed on Monday that two Islamic State flags found in Akrams' car at Bondi Beachand investigators believed both men had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group.
Update: On December 30, AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the Philippine National Police's initial assessment was that there was no evidence to suggest the Akrams had received training or undergone logistical preparation in Mindanao in November 2025. Australian and Philippine police continue to investigate what the Akrams were doing in the Philippines.
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