DHAKA: A Pakistani teenager who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber, saving the lives of hundreds of students, has been handed the country`s highest award for bravery.

Aitzaz Hassan, 15, a student in Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has become a national hero after tackling the bomber who came to attack his school on Monday, with hundreds of students inside.

Hassan died in hospital after the bomber blew himself up at the school gates. No one else was wounded or killed in the incident.

The office of Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif said it had advised president Mamnoon Hussain ‘to approve the conferment of Sitara-e-Shujjat (star of bravery) to Shaheed (martyred) Aitzaz Hassan’, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1553 HRS, JAN 11, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor