Father And Son In Sydney Shooting Had Military Training In The Philippines

• 16.12.2025, 9:49

Investigators are looking into possible contacts with international jihadist organizations.

Father and son Sajid and Navid Akram, who shot and killed 15 people on a Sydney (Australia) beach during Hanukkah celebrations, had previously visited the Philippines. According to security services, they had undergone so-called "military training" there.

The ABC, citing security services. According to sources in early November, about a month before the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, the two traveled to the Philippines. After arriving in Manila, they traveled to the south of the country, where they received combat training, according to a senior counter-terrorism official. Both returned to Australia in late November.

The exact routes of the Akrams' movements in the southern Philippines have not yet been confirmed, the publication's interlocutors said. However, the Philippines has long been considered a center of Islamist militants, in particular, in the south of the country work so-called training camps.

It is not for the first time that the younger Akram has come to the attention of law enforcers. Australia's intelligence agency ASIO investigated Naveed Akram back in 2019 because of his links to an IS cell in Sydney. Back then, sources said, he "showed signs of intentions of concern" but no further action was taken against him.

In the meantime, investigators are looking into Akram's possible contacts with international jihadist entities. The investigation was reopened after reports of 24-year-old Naveed Akram's long-standing links to members of the Australian pro-Islamic network, particularly jihadist spiritual leader Wissam Haddad and convicted recruiter Youssef Uweinat.