NAYRAB, Syria: As Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years unfolded, a Sydney shopowner was captured on camera charging at one of the gunmen and disarming him. Halfway around the world in Syria, a group of men watching the footage recognized a familiar face.
Ahmed Al-Ahmed, 43, left his hometown in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia. On Sunday, he was wounded after wrestling a rifle away from a man attacking a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, in which 15 people were killed.
His uncle, Mohammed Al-Ahmed, recognized him from footage circulating online.
“We learned through social media. I called his father and he told me that it was Ahmed. Ahmed is a hero, we’re proud of him. Syria in general is proud of him,” the uncle told Reuters. The family hails from the town of Nayrab, which was bombed heavily during Syria’s nearly 14-year war, which ended when longtime leader Bashar Assad was ousted in a rebel offensive launched from Idlib last year.
Ahmed said his nephew left Syria in 2006 after completing a degree at Aleppo University. He hasn’t been back since.
