Daily London
The head of the Australian Federal Police is warning that more raids are imminent as officers move in on hate preachers and anyone associated with them.
Pictures show a tiny hotel room with two single beds that cost just over $20 a night and was reportedly paid for in cash by the Akrams – the base for the father and son during their 27-day trip to the Philippines, now at the centre of an investigation into Bondi’s terror attack.
“The president strongly rejects the sweeping statement and the misleading characterisation of the Philippines as the ISIS training hotspot,” Claire Castro from the Philippines’ Presidential Communications Office said
The father and son visited the city of Davao, reportedly for militant training, just weeks before they’re alleged to have carried out an Islamic State-inspired attack targeting Jewish families at Bondi Beach.
Filipino authorities have been quick to reject claims of extremist training.
“Training cannot be acquired in just 30 days,” Armed Forces of the Philippines Colonel Xerxes Trinidad said.
Colonel Froncel Margareth Padilla said in a television interview, “there are no activities such as trainings or any local terrorist activities”.
“The AFP continues to work with both domestic and international partners to build a more complete picture of the movements and who the alleged offenders had contact with both in Australia and offshore,” AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.
She would not confirm if it was known whether the accused mass killers received combat instructions overseas, but she did have this warning for anyone who may have influenced them back home:
“I can also reveal the AFP has ongoing investigations into people who have been described as hate preachers,” she said.
“These individuals who spew hatred and cause fear are on my radar.”
