Karzai praises Pakistani boy’s courage

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Hamid Karzai on Saturday paid tribute to a Pakistani teenager, who died stopping a suicide bomber from entering his school in the troubled northwest.

“Terrorism is a threat taking lives of both Afghans and Pakistanis,” Karzai said in a statement, praising the 14-year-old boy, who died tackling a suicide bomber at the main gate to his school in Hangu town of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Ninth-grader Aitzaz Hassan Bangash was on his way to the Ibrahimzai School on Monday when the bomber, dressed in a school uniform, asked him where the school was. The teenager then tackled the stranger as he tried to flee, and the bomb blew them up.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has recommended that a high award for bravery be bestowed on Hassan. The announcement came after calls grew across the country to honour Hassan

Karzai praised Hassan’s bravery, saying many Afghan youth had offered their lives preventing suicide bombers and saving hundreds of others.

mrh/ma

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