Killed Kansas College Student Hailed As A Hero For Attempting To Stop ISIS Attack
Kansas college student named Abdul-Jalil Al-Arbash was killed in Saudi Arabia after he confronted a suicide bomber who was trying to enter a mosque on Friday. For Saudi Arabians, he and his cousin are heroes.
On May 29, a bomb exploded outside the mosque in Saudi Arabia, leaving four people dead including a Kansas student. Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, or ISIS, claimed that it was the group's bomber who blew himself up after Al-Arbash tried to turn him in.
Al-Arbash was an undergrad college student who was studying electrical engineering at Wichita State University. He and his cousin Mohamed Al-Eissa were working as security guards at the mosque in the port city of Dammam.
According to a Time, Al-Arbash and his cousin volunteered to work as security guards after a recent mosque attack. Al-Arbash got alarmed when he noticed a man dressed in all black and attempted to go inside the mosque — women were warned to remain at home due to safety.
Based on eyewitness' claim to Asharq Al-Awsat, the suicide bomber had attempted to gain access to the mosque; however, he was prevented from doing so by worshipers and local security. After he was caught, he detonated his explosives, leaving four dead people. Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry revealed that names of the four victims and "martyred" in the recent attack. They were Al-Arbash, his cousin Al-Eissa, Abdul Hadi Salman Al-Hashim and Mohamed Jomaa Al-Arbash.
The 22-year-old student returned to Saudi Arabia to get married. After marrying his wife, he was supposed to leave Saudi Arabia and go back to Wichita State University. Al-Arbash was an honor roll student for the electrical engineering major.
The Mosque guards Al-Arbash and Al-Eissa have been praised for their role in preventing the attack. Some Saudis expressed their praises over the heroic acta of the guards on social media. A selfie image of the two has been trending on Twitter this week.
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