Australian police officials are now investigating the purpose behind a trip made by the father-son duo who carried out the mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
Authorities from the Philippine Immigration Bureau, who spoke to the media, said that the two had travelled to the country between November 1 and 28 using Indian and Australian passports.
According to Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokeswoman Dana Sandoval, Sajid Akram, 50, used an Indian passport and his son Naveed Akram, 24, used an Australian one.
“Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025 from Sydney, Australia,” Sandoval told AFP.
Both shooters were reported earlier as being of Pakistani origin.
They had arrived in the country on November 1, ended their trip at Davao and then returned to Sydney, BBC reported.
Davao, located in the east of the main Philippines island, is known to have Islamist militant operations. However, in recent years, their presence has been reduced to small weakened cells on the southern island of Mindanao. Pro-Islamic State Maute and Abu Sayyaf militants, including foreign and local fighters, had held Mindanao’s Marawi under siege in 2017. The Philippines claimed the ciy back after a five-month long battles that killed more than a 1000 people.
The Philippines military said that they could not confirm if the two had military style training there. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla told ABS-CBN News, “At this time, there is no validated information confirming such claims.”
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Tuesday that the two appeared to have been inspired by the Islamic State. The vehicle owned by the younger shooter also contained improvised explosive devices and two homemade flags associated with the ISIS.
New South Wales Police said that the suspects had told family that they were going on a weekend fishing trip, but stayed in a short-term rental in Campsie, where they allegedly planned the attack. Police also recovered two firearms during an investigation into the site.
