Iraq

Doctor Trying to Save Son From ISIS Among the Victims in Istanbul Airport Attack

He was working with his country's embassy to retrieve his son from Syria, a friend of the son's said

One of the dozens of people killed in an attack on an Istanbul airport Tuesday was a doctor on a mission to save his son from the terror group ISIS, officials and friends said.

Fathi Bayoudh, a Tunisian military doctor and head of a pediatrics unit at a hospital in the country's capital, had traveled to Turkey about two months ago to retrieve his son, Anouar, from Syria, a family friend confirmed to NBC News.

Anouar, who was in his late 20s, left to join the terror group ISIS and traveled first to Iraq and then to Syria, the friend said.

Bayoudh was working with the Tunisian Embassy in Ankara to get his son from Syria, a friend of the son said. Bayoudh called his wife, who is also a doctor, to Turkey and went to the airport to pick her up when the attack occurred, according to reports.

Contact Us