Tunis-Brigadier Fathi Bayoud of the Tunisian Armed Forces was identified among the victims who had been killed in the terrorist attacks against Istanbul’s largest airport.

Born and raised in Ksour Essef, a town in the Tunisian Mahdia Governorate, the late Brig. also served as head of the pediatric department at Tunis’ Military Hospital. Tunisian security sources later confirmed the death of Bayoud at the age of 58.

Sources added that Bayoud had headed to Turkey seeking out his son who was said to have escaped home to join ISIS ranks in Syria. The commander’s son was a student attending the Tunisian aviation academy.

Bayoud later learnt that his son decided on joining the terrorist group in Syria, leaving Tunisia. The young man succeeded in slipping into Turkish grounds later becoming out of reach. With the son disappearing, Bayoud was forced to go search at the last place his son was cited, Turkey.

Bayoud was conducting a thorough search for two months trying to find his son and relieving him from the deep trouble he was caught up in. The loving father, at the wrong place and time, was waiting his wife and daughter’s arrival to the Ataturk airport.

Bayoud was devoted to finding his son, only suspending his search with an ill-fated death.

Tunisia’s Defense Ministry Spokesperson Colonel Belhassen Oueslati, speaking to press, said that Bayoud was not running a mission while present in Turkey, rather was there after acquiring a leave for vacation.

Oueslati made no clear statements on the rumors of the victim’s quest for his lost son, only claiming that it remains a personal matter which the ministry of defense remains impartial towards.

Oueslati pointed out that Bayoud was granted a leave from service without giving any distinct information as to why he would be leaving the country.

Moreover, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the slight injury of a Tunisian woman, who maintains a good state of health, at the airport explosions.

Tunisian authorities strongly denounced the airport blasts. Later on, the ministry of foreign affairs reassured the health and well-being of the rest of the Tunisian citizens present at the scene of the attack, including the safety of the staff and crew of two Tunisair flights.

The ministry also urged Tunisian citizens to maintain a level of alertness and caution when visiting Turkey.