Post date: Jan 11, 2014 5:52:21 PM
Pakistani army officials salute at the graveside of a boy who died by throwing himself on a suicide bomber saving his schoolmates.
HANGU, PAKISTAN (JANUARY 11, 2014) (REUTERS) - As family members and fellow villagers watched in pride, a small contingent from the Pakistan army on Saturday (January 11) saluted the grave of a schoolboy who died stopping a suicide bomber from attacking his school earlier this week.
The soldiers placed a wreath on the grave on behalf of army chief general Raheel Sharif."Chief of Army Staff said that the nation is proud of this young Hero who has set a sterling example of bravery and sacrifice at a young age of 15 years and has sacrificed his today for our better tomorrow," the military said in a statement.
A contingent from the Frontier Constabulary also arrived to pay their respects to the young hero.
Aitezaz Hassan tackled the bomber as he tried to enter a government school in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Hassan and the bomber died but no other students or staff were hurt, police said.
The bomber approached the school with explosives hidden under a school uniform on Monday, but students noticed and started shouting out warnings to stop him.
Hassan tackled him head on but the bomb detonated and Hassan died of his injuries, teachers at the school said.
Hassan's father, Mujahid Ali, told Reuters Television he had no regrets for what his son had done and was proud of his bravery.
"The first thing I did was to thank my Allah. I am very, very happy at the martyrdom of my son. And I have thanked my creator for it," Ali said.
He said authorities could rename the school after Hassan, and officially declare him a martyr, a designation that would bring some financial relief to his family.
His mother, brother, and two sisters were mourning Hassan but took some comfort in knowing that he had saved many others, the father said.
School fellows were at the graveside to pray for the boy who had saved their lives.
"He was my class fellow. He had very cordial relations with everyone. He was a very good and intelligent student of our school. We are very proud of his martyrdom, but we are very saddened by his leaving us," said Asad Raza.
The school is in Hangu, a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim area.
A Sunni Muslim sectarian group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi believe Shi'ites, who make up about 20 percent of Pakistan's 180 million people, are heretics who should be killed.
"He saved the lives of many of our boys. He saved the school. He held up the honor of the school and he achieved the great distinction of martyrdom for himself," said Hassan's class teacher, Habib Ali.
On Friday, the prime minister's office said it had recommended him for a Sitara-e-Shujaat, or Star of Bravery, award.
Newspapers ran editorials praising his bravery and contrasted it with the government's inaction in the face of militancy.
The number of suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan rose by more than a third to 46 last year, according to a study released earlier this week by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies.
The same study said that sectarian attacks were becoming more frequent and more deadly.