Web Desk/AFP

ISLAMABAD: Indian police said on Tuesday that one of the two gunmen behind Australia&#39;s Bondi Beach mass shootings, Sajid Akram, was an Indian citizen who had left the country 27 years ago. Akram and his son Naveed &mdash; who is listed on Australian immigration records as an Australian citizen, according to authorities &mdash; opened fire on people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday, killing 15. &quot;Sajid Akram is originally from Hyderabad, India. He... migrated to Australia in search of employment approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998,&quot; police in India&#39;s southern state of Telangana said in a statement. &quot;As per information available from his relatives in India, Sajid Akram had limited contact with his family in Hyderabad over the past 27 years,&quot; the statement added. &quot;He visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and visits to his elderly parents. It is understood that he did not travel to India even at the time of his father&#39;s demise.&quot; Australia&#39;s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the father and son who carried out one of the country&#39;s deadliest mass shootings were driven by ISIS &quot;ideology.&quot; Authorities said the attack was designed to sow panic among the nation&#39;s Jews. Telangana police said they had &quot;no adverse record&quot; against Sajid while he had been in India before his departure. &quot;The family members have expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation&quot;, the statement read. &quot;The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed, appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana&quot;, it added.

Asia

Indian police said Sajid Akram, one of two gunmen in the Bondi Beach shooting, is from Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in 1998. Meanwhile, his son Naveed is an Australian citizen. 

Australia Bondi gunman was Indian citizen: Telangana police

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit seller, emerged as a central figure in Australia&rsquo;s deadliest mass shooting in years after confronting and disarming a gunman during a deadly attack on a Jewish gathering celebrating Hanukkah.&nbsp;Footage circulating on social media shows Ahmed rushing toward the armed attacker as shots are fired off-camera. He is seen grabbing the gunman, wrestling the weapon from his hands, and forcing the assailant to retreat at gunpoint.&nbsp;Australian broadcaster 7News identified Ahmed as the man in the video and reported that he sustained two gunshot wounds during the struggle. He is currently hospitalized.&nbsp;A relative, identified only as Mustapha, confirmed Ahmed&rsquo;s condition and praised his actions. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in hospital and we don&rsquo;t know exactly what&rsquo;s going on inside,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We do hope he will be fine. He&rsquo;s a hero 100 percent.&rdquo;&nbsp;Authorities said the attack killed 16 people and wounded many others. Police described the shooting as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community.&nbsp;Australian leaders publicly praised Ahmed&rsquo;s actions. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described him and others who intervened as &ldquo;heroes.&rdquo; New South Wales Premier Chris Minns echoed that sentiment during a late-night briefing.&nbsp;&ldquo;In all of this evil, in all of this sadness, there are still wonderful, brave Australians that are prepared to risk their lives to help a complete stranger,&rdquo; Minns said.&nbsp;Ahmed&rsquo;s actions also drew international attention. US President Donald Trump publicly commended him, saying his intervention prevented further bloodshed.&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a very, very brave person, actually, who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters, and saved a lot of lives,&rdquo; Trump said, adding that Ahmed &ldquo;is right now in the hospital, pretty seriously wounded.&rdquo;&nbsp;As investigations continue, Ahmed al Ahmed is being widely recognized across Australia as a civilian who risked his life to stop a gunman and protect others.

Australasia

43-year-old Muslim man hailed as a hero after disarming a gunman during a deadly Sydney attack, sustaining gunshot wounds while saving lives

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Australia Bondi gunman was Indian citizen: Telangana police

Who is Ahmed al Ahmed, man who disarmed Sydney gunman