By The South Asia Times

SYDENY - Australian authorities have confirmed that father-son gunmen Sajid and Naveed Akram travelled to the southern Philippines in November 2025 to undergo “military-style training” in the month before killing 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach.

Naveed and Sajid Akram then journeyed to the southern Philippines and underwent militant training, ABC News qouted a senior Australian counter-terrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The pair arrived in Davao on November 1 and departed Manila on November 28, before returning to Sydney, according to the Philippines Bureau of Immigration.

Investigators are examining the Akrams’ links to international networks. Naveed, 24, has longstanding connections to Australia’s pro-Deash network.

Philippine authorities, including the National Bureau of Investigation, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police, are working to trace the pair’s movements, contacts, and activities in Davao and nearby localities such as Bangahan, though exact details of their stay remain unconfirmed.

Earlier, some Indian and Israeli media outlets falsely linked the attackers to Pakistan, but Australian officials never confirmed this. Once investigations clarified the Akrams had travelled to the Philippines, people worldwide on social media condemned the earlier reporting by Indian and Israeli media for spreading unverified information without official sources.