Iraq police hero sacrifices himself to save Shia pilgrims from blast

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Iraqi cop shielded many people from the blast that left five dead and injured 10 in Khalis in the northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Wednesday, a police colonel and a doctor said.The toll would have been certainly higher if it had not been for the cop who the colonel said threw his arms around the bomber.The martyred cop, identified as Ayyub Khalaf, was a 34-year-old married man and a father of two children aged six and nine."Ayyub was martyred while defending pilgrims… His name will be an eternal symbol because he saved the lives of dozens of innocents," said his friend Saad Naim.His cousin also said Ayyub “stood in the face of terrorism as he saved... pilgrims from death… We are proud of him."“He was a brave man, who loved his country and sacrificed himself for it," said one of his colleagues, adding, "I am proud of him, because he faced terrorism and was able to silence the voice of infidelity and injustice by sacrificing his body and soul."Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims take pilgrimages for the 40th day after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Imam of Shias, whose shrine is situated in Karbala.Iraq’s Interior Ministry has said that militants have launched an open war in Iraq and they want to push the Middle Eastern country into chaos.“The country is currently facing an open war from bloodthirsty sectarian forces that aim to plunge the country into chaos,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on July 30./149