Sydney Attack: Assailants Entered the Philippines, One with an Indian Passport, the Other Australian

The assailants involved in the Sydney attack spent the month of November in the Philippines, with the father traveling on an Indian passport and his son on an Australian passport, according to the immigration service of the Southeast Asian country on Tuesday.

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

Their final destination was the Davao region (southeast) on the island of Mindanao, and they departed the Philippines for Sydney on November 28, she clarified.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated on Tuesday that the two gunmen involved in the antisemitic attack, which left at least 15 dead and 42 injured, were likely "motivated by the ideology" of the Islamic State group.

The vehicle found near Bondi Beach was registered in the son's name and contained "two hand-made Islamic State flags" and improvised explosive devices, said Mal Lanyon, head of the New South Wales police, on Tuesday.

In 2014, Manila signed a peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest rebel group in the country, which ended its deadly armed insurgency that began in the 1970s in southern Philippines.

However, small groups of Islamist fighters, opposed to the peace agreement, remain on Mindanao island.

On May 23, 2017, hundreds of armed men pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group seized control of several areas in the city of Marawi, using civilians as human shields.

It took the Philippine army five months to reclaim those neighborhoods, some of which were left completely devastated.