Aitezaz Hassan recommended for top award

Police in Peshawar have recommended a teenager who was martyred stopping a Takfiri Taliban suicide bomber from attacking a school for a top civilian honour.

Aitezaz Hussain, 15, a student in Hangu district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Monday tackled the bomber who had come to attack his school at a time when hundreds of students were inside.

Hussain martyred in hospital after the bomber blew himself up at the school gates. No one else was wounded or killed in the incident because of the bravery of teenager Aitezaz Hassan who secured the lives of students by sacrificing his life.

Nasir Khan Durrani, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief of police, has written to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak recommending Hassan for the posthumous award, a police statement issued late Thursday said.

“The suicide bomber tried to enter the school where hundreds of students were studying. Aitezaz Hassan sacrificed his life and stopped the bomber with bravery and courage,” the police statement said.

“He saved the lives of hundreds of innocent students with his extreme valour and bravery.”

Pakistan has several categories of civilian award and it will fall to the government to decide which, if any, Hussain should receive.

Hussain’s father Mujahid Ali Bangash told AFP on Thursday he felt not sadness but pride at his son’s death.

“Many people are coming to see me but if they try to express sympathy, I tell them to congratulate me instead on becoming the father of a martyr,” he said.

“I will be even more than happy if my second son also sacrifices his life for the country.”

Local media are calling Hussain a hero, while social media is demanding recognition for him.