Muslim police officer who died saving Christians on New Year's Eve

On the night of 31 December, Mohamed Massat stopped an ISIS terrorist who wanted to attack a church, paying for his gesture with his life. Six months ago, there was an attack against Mar Elias in Damascus. Many today praise his courage, pointing to him as an example for Syria today.

Aleppo (AsiaNews) - His name was Mohamed Massat. He was a Muslim police officer and had just become the father of a baby girl ten days earlier. In Syria, which entered 2026 amid a thousand uncertainties, many are now hailing him as a hero on local social networks. It was his courage that led him to sacrifice his life on New Year's Eve in Aleppo and to foil a new attack by ISIS terrorists that was supposed to target Christians.

At a checkpoint in the Bab al-Faraj neighbourhood of Aleppo, the officer noticed an individual who turned out to be a member of Daesh. In an attempt to verify the situation, the terrorist opened fire, killing Massat, then blew himself up, also injuring two other officers who were trying to arrest him.

The Syrian Interior Ministry expressed its condolences to the family and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

“As part of ongoing efforts to combat terrorism and thanks to meticulous monitoring of the movements of Daesh terrorist network cells, information has revealed the group's intention to carry out suicide operations during New Year's celebrations in several governorates, particularly in Aleppo, targeting churches and places of civil assembly,” the Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

Many people attended the officer's funeral yesterday, emphasising the importance of his sacrifice for peaceful coexistence between the different communities in Aleppo. The new attempted attack would have taken place on a significant day for the Christian community, six months after the attack on the Mar Elias church in Damascus last June, which left more than 20 people dead.

• Syria
• Aleppo
• Christians
• ISIS
• Muslims