Photos emerge of passports used by Bondi shooters during monthlong Philippines trip

Photos have emerged of the passports reportedly used by the alleged Bondi terrorists during a monthlong trip to a known terror hotspot in the Philippines weeks before Sunday’s mass shooting.

Indian national Sajid Akram, 50, and his Australian-born son Naveed Akram, 24, are reported to have received “military-style training” in Mindanao — a claim urgently being probed by Australian investigators amid pushback by Philippines officials.

Mindanao, an island in the southern Philippines, is a hotspot region where Islamic State militants have been visiting since the 1990s. Marawi City, in the southwest of Mindanao, was the site of an ISIS-linked siege in 2017.

The pair arrived in the Philippines from Sydney on Nov. 1, the Philippines Bureau of Immigration said on Tuesday.

They landed at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport before making their way to Davao City on Mindanao.

“Both reported Davao as their final destination,” the Bureau of Immigration said.

The pair left the country on Nov. 28 on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination.

Photos obtained by the Philippines’ ABS-CBN News on Wednesday show the Indian and Australian passports used by the pair, as well as what appear to be photos taken at immigration.

Sajid’s Indian passport, issued in Feb. 2022, lists his place of birth as Hyderabad, Telangana, and place of residence as Sydney.

Naveed’s passport lists his place of birth as Camperdown, where Royal Prince Alfred Hospital is located. The document was issued in August 2021, two years after Naveed first came to the attention of ASIO over links to a Sydney-based ISIS cell.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has spoken to her Filipino counterpart, but on Wednesday said she could not go into specifics of their conversation.

“You probably understand I can’t go into all details of our discussion, but I can say that we, Australia and the Philippines, are longstanding partners on regional security and on related matters, and that will continue,” she told ABC Radio National.

Philippine authorities, however, have pushed back on reports that the pair received any sort of terrorism training in the country.

National security adviser Eduardo Año said the father and son were believed to have remained in Davao City and that there was “no evidence” they had travelled to Marawi City.

“Our investigation is still ongoing,” he told The Guardian on Thursday.

“A mere visit does not support allegations of terrorist training, and the duration of their stay would not have allowed for any meaningful and structured training.”

A spokesperson for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr rejected the “misleading characterisation of the Philippines as an ISIS training hotspot”, while the country’s military said the number of ISIS-linked militants was down to around just 50.

Philippine police and staff at the GV Hotel in Davao City told newspaper early investigations suggested the father and son stayed in the same room from Nov. 1 to 28.

They rarely left the hotel, and only for about an hour at the time, hotel staff said.

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“They would just go out and come back. Just the two of them …. We never saw them talk to any visitors,” front desk worker Sayson said.

The pair, who arrived carrying a big piece of luggage and a backpack, initially booked a seven-night stay online but continued to request extensions until checking out on Nov. 28.

“We thought they probably had business here in the city since they would go out and just come back again,” she said.

“We would see them cross the street and walk towards the next block. We never saw them take a ride or saw anyone pick them up here at the hotel.”

On Sunday evening, just before 7 p.m., the father and son drove from a short-term rental property in Campsie, Sydney’s southwest, to the eastern suburbs.

They parked a silver 2001 Hyundai Elantra on Campbell Parade and placed an ISIS flag on the window of the vehicle, before allegedly opening fire on Jewish families as they celebrated the first day of Hanukkah at a park meters from Bondi Beach.

Fifteen people aged 10 to 87 died. Two police officers are among the dozens injured, with 17 remaining in hospital on Thursday.

Sajid was shot dead by police. Naveed was shot and taken into custody with critical injuries.

After waking from a coma in hospital on Wednesday, the 24-year-old was hit with more than 50 charges, including 50 counts of murder and terrorism offenses.