An Iraqi man stopped a would-be suicide bomber from the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) from reaching his intended target on Thursday night; thus, saving dozens of lives at the Sayyed Mohammad Shrine in the town of Balad.

According to Iraqi activists, the man was identified as Najih Shaker Al-Baldawi – a local resident of Balad that physically stopped the terrorist from entering the shrine before the latter detonated his suicide vest, killing them both in the process.

An honourable man from #Balad, Najih Shakir,holds the suicide bomber & attains martyrdom,preventing many more deaths pic.twitter.com/fFKZhxZvv7 — Mohammed Al-Hilli (@malhilli) July 8, 2016

Without Al-Baldawi’s heroics on Thursdsay night, the death toll from the Islamic State terrorist attack at the Sayyed Mohammad Shrine could have risen exponentially.