A man resembling Bondi gunman Naveed Akram has been captured on CCTV in Davao City in mid-November, as authorities continue to investigate the movements of him and his father, Sajid Akram, in the lead-up to the attack.

As Australian authorities try to retrace the steps and understand the motivations of the Bondi Beach gunmen who killed 15 people on Sunday, one key focus has emerged: their travel to the Philippines last month,

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 19 December) – A peace monitor has cautioned against linking the Bondi Beach shooters to violent Islamic extremist groups in Mindanao, even if it stressed that violent extremism remains a security threat despite military operations to crush it.

Alleged terrorists Naveed and Sajid Akram spent almost a month holed up in a small hotel room in a city in the southern Philippines in the lead-up to the attack, local staff have said.

Investigators are probing a trip the father and son alleged to have carried out the attack took to the Philippines. The Sydney Opera House was lit up with a menorah overnight in a message of support and solidarity to the Australian Jewish community.

The death toll of the horrific Bondi terror attack has risen to at least 16 people, including a 10-year-old schoolgirl, with fears the number of victims will continue to grow. Sky News Australia has rolling coverage of the tragedy.

Intelligence agencies revealed that one of the shooters in the Bondi Beach terror attack, Naveed Akram, came under police radar six years back in connection with a Sydney-based Islamic State cell.

Naveed Akram, 24, was charged Wednesday after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital, where he has been since police shot him. His father, also shot, died.