ASEANEWS HEADLINE-COURTS & CRIME | MANILA: Bondi Beach shooters visited Philippines on Indian passport before attack
‘Indian Passport, Manila Trip…’ How Bondi Beach ‘Shooters Prepped’ For ‘ISIS-Inspired’ Attack |4K
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The father and son behind the Sydney mass shooting spent November in the Philippines, with the father entering on an Indian passport, authorities confirm.
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Bondi Beach shooting: Police investigating gunmen’s trip to Philippines, links to Islamic State
MANILA: The father and son responsible for one of Australia’s deadliest mass shootings spent nearly all of November in the Philippines.
Immigration authorities in Manila confirmed Sajid Akram and his son Naveed entered the country on November 1.
Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval stated their final destination was listed as Davao province on the southern island of Mindanao.
“The left the country on November 28, 2025 on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination,” Sandoval said.
The pair later killed 15 people and wounded dozens at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the two men had likely been radicalised by “Islamic State ideology”.
The Philippine National Security Council stated there was no prior information suggesting the men posed a threat during their visit.
National Security Council spokesman Cornelio Valencia said they were checking reports but had found no confirmation the men trained there.
“We’re acting for our counterparts, so we will check their reports,” Valencia told AFP.
He noted that Islamic militancy is “not such a big problem now” since the degradation of groups following the 2017 Marawi siege.
Pro-Islamic State militants held Marawi City under siege for five months that year.
The battle claimed more than 1,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands before the military reclaimed the city.
A spokesman for the army’s Mindanao-based 6th Infantry Division said they had heard nothing recently about IS-linked training camps or foreigners training with local insurgents. – AFP
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Fruit seller hailed as “hero” after disarming gunman in Sydney attack
‘Indian Passport, Manila Trip…’ How Bondi Beach ‘Shooters Prepped’ For ‘ISIS-Inspired’ Attack |4K
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The Sun Webdesk
Tuesday, 16 Dec 2025
Police officers assist a visitor at the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 15, 2025. – AFPFruit seller hailed as “hero” after disarming gunman in Sydney attack
A fruit seller is praised as a hero after wrestling a gun from an attacker during a mass shooting in Sydney that killed 16 people
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SYDNEY: Australians are hailing a “hero” whose daring struggle with a gunman led to the disarming of an attacker during the country’s worst mass shooting in years.
Footage emerged on social media of a man risking his life by grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired on people.
The man then wrestled the gun out of the attacker’s hand before pointing the weapon at the assailant, who backed away.
Local outlet 7News identified him as 43-year-old fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed and reported he had suffered two gunshot wounds.
The outlet spoke to a man called Mustapha, who said he was Ahmed’s cousin.
“He’s in hospital and we don’t know exactly what’s going on inside,” he said.
“We do hope he will be fine. He’s a hero 100%.”
The startling footage has gone viral, with Ahmed feted online for his bravery and lifesaving quick thinking.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed him and others as “heroes”, as did Premier Chris Minns of New South Wales.
“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,” Minns told a press briefing.
Authorities said the gunmen killed 16 people and wounded many more in what police described as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community.
US President Donald Trump offered his own praise and “great respect” for the man who disarmed a gunman.
“It’s been a very, very brave person, actually, who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters, and saved a lot of lives,” Trump said, adding the man “is right now in the hospital, pretty seriously wounded.” – AFP
