Bondi Attack Suspects Spent Most of November in the Philippines

Australian officials reveal Bondi suspects spent weeks in the Philippines, raising terrorism fears linked to Islamic State influence before the deadly Sydney attack.

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Dec 16, 2025 - 19:07

Bondi Attack Suspects Spent Most of November in the Philippines

Philippine authorities confirmed on Tuesday that the two suspected attackers who carried out the Bondi Beach attack arrived in the country a month before the attack and remained there for most of November.

"Sajid Akram, 50, an Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, an Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together from Sydney, Australia, on November 1, 2025," said Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval.

She said the two listed Davao City as their last known address. She added that they departed Davao on November 28 and traveled to Manila to catch a connecting flight to Sydney, their final destination.

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Davao, on the island of Mindanao, is home to groups linked to the Islamic State militia, which is considered a terrorist organization by several countries.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the attackers appeared to have been influenced by Islamic State ideology.

Australian media reports indicated that the two men had been at a training camp in the Philippines before the attack in Sydney on Sunday, which killed 15 people. The elder Akram, who was the younger man's father, was shot dead by security forces.

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The two opened fire on people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at the world-famous beach in Sydney.

The Islamic State operates in the Philippines through local jihadist groups such as the Maute Group, Abu Sayyaf, Daulah Islamiyah, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

The 2017 Battle of Marawi was the culmination of the terrorist groups' influence in Mindanao. Various terrorist groups from the island provinces of Mindanao formed a fighting force that seized the economic center of the Philippines' only Islamic city.

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