Bondi Beach shooting: A father and son accused of carrying out one of Australia’s deadliest mass shootings spent almost the entire month of November in the Philippines, according to an AFP report, citing confirmation from Manila immigration authorities.
Philippine officials said the suspected elder entered the country using an Indian passport. Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, who allegedly killed 15 people and injured dozens more during Hanukkah celebrations on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, arrived in the Philippines on November 1, with the southern city of Davao as their final destination.
Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval told AFP: “Sajid Akram, 50, an Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, an Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025, from Sydney, Australia,” adding that the pair departed the country on November 28.
Australia’s prime minister said the Bondi Beach gunman was driven by the “ideology of Islamic State”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the father and son accused of carrying out one of the country’s deadliest mass shootings were driven by “Islamic State ideology”, pointing to extremist radicalization as a motive for the attack.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram allegedly opened fire on crowds gathered at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday night during celebrations for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, killing 15 people and injuring dozens more.
Authorities said the shooting was aimed at spreading fear in Australia’s Jewish community, although details of the gunmen’s motivations have so far been limited.
On Tuesday, Mr. Albanese offered the clearest indication yet of the ideological drivers of the violence.
“It appears to have been motivated by the ideology of the Islamic State,” he told ABC national television.
In a separate interview, the Prime Minister added: “With the rise of ISIS more than a decade ago, the world is grappling with extremism and this hateful ideology.
Police investigating the attack discovered a vehicle registered to Naveed Akram parked near the beach shortly after the shooting. A subsequent search revealed improvised explosive devices and “two homemade ISIS flags”, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group.
