Praise for the unarmed heroes who took on pair

TWO unarmed men who tackled the Bondi Beach gunmen were yesterday hailed as heroes of the atrocity.

- BY PAUL JEEVES

Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, a Muslim, saved countless lives as he fought with Islamic State inspired gunman Sajid Akram after he and his son Naveed opened fire.

And a second, unnamed man confronted one of the killers and managed to kick his gun away.

Last night Mr Ahmed was recovering in hospital after he suffered gunshot wounds to the arm and hand in the tussle for the weapon. A fundraiser for him hit $1.5million (£750k). Fruit shop owner Mr Ahmed arrived in Sydney more than a decade ago from Syria and is the father of two daughters aged five and six.

Conscience

His father, Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed, revealed his son has an “impulse to protect people”, having previously served with the police. He said: “His friend told him, ‘Let's go have coffee at Bondi’. They got there and were shocked to see armed men firing weapons.