In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, a story has emerged from a different act of terrorism that is giving people renewed hope in humanity.
A day before the Paris attacks, twin suicide bombings in Lebanon took 45 lives and wounded more than 200. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place near a mosque in the Beirut suburb of Burj al-Barajneh.
The death toll of the Nov. 12 attack would have been higher, were it not for the selflessness of a father of two, whose quick action saved lives but led to the loss of his own.
Eyewitnesses told CNN that Adel Termos, 32, and other worshippers at the mosque went to see what had happened after the first bomb went off.
“Adel noticed a man running down the hill … screaming, ‘Allahu akbar, Allah akbar!'” a witness said. According to Public Radio International, Termos tackled him to the ground, causing the suicide bomber to detonate.
“There are many many families, hundreds of families probably, who owe their completeness to his sacrifice,” wrote Beirut blogger and physician Elie Fares.
“I am alive, and happy, and proud of my husband who held our family name up high and honored us,” Termos’ widow, Bassima, told CNN.
Burj al-Barajneh is a predominantly Shia neighborhood, and the suicide attack took place outside a Shia mosque. The Islamic State is a Sunni movement.
Lebanon has seen deadly spillovers from the Syrian conflict including a wave of bombings and suicide attacks in 2013 and 2014, according to The Guardian. Thursday’s twin blast was one of the deadliest bombings to hit the country since the end of its 1975–90 civil war:
Previous explosions have also targeted Shia-populated areas of Lebanon and have been claimed by militants who say it was payback for Hezbollah’s participation in the Syrian civil war. The group has been fighting in Syria along with President Bashar Assad’s forces.
And today we celebrate...