Saudi men’s self sacrifice save the day at Dammam

Dammam

Two young men who reportedly stopped an Isis suicide bomber entering a mosque in Saudi Arabia are being hailed as heroes after being killed when he blew himself up.

The friends, named as Mohammed Hassan Ali bin Isa and Abdul Jalil Al Arbash, died after reportedly turning the attacker away from the Imam Hussein mosque in Dammam yesterday.

Eyewitnesses claim the man was disguised as a woman and tried to enter through a closed female entrance before going to the main gate, where the pair were manning a civilian checkpoint.

“They saved a lot of lives by stopping the bomber from getting inside the mosque,” a local man, who asked to remain anonymous, told Middle East Eye. “They are both heroes.”

Mohammed Idris, an eyewitness, told the Associated Press that Mohammed and Abdul Jalil chased the bomber away and died when he detonated the explosives in the mosque car park.

“They chased the suicide bomber when he tried to enter the women’s section of the mosque in the south entrance,” he added. Abdul-Jalil was reportedly 25 and had recently returned from studying at university in the US, got married just days ago.  

One of the men’s mothers, Kowther Al Arbash, is a high-profile writer for Saudi newspaper Al Jazira, Middle East Eye reported.

Photos of the pair were circulating on social media today, with people calling them heroes and “martyrs”.

A video from inside the al-Anoud mosque showed the moment the explosion was heard outside, with prayers being interrupted by a huge blast that shook the building, causing people to jump to their feet and shout in the ensuing panic.