14-Year-Old Pakistani Boy Saves Schoolmates By Tackling Suicide Bomber

A 14-year-old boy in Pakistan did something heroic. He tackled a suicide bomber who was trying to enter his school during morning assembly and saved the lives of hundreds of his classmates, but lost his own life in the process.

According to KDVR, his name was Aitazaz Hassan Bangash and he was a ninth grader at the Ibrahimzai School. He and his cousins were going to school and the bomber confronted them and them for directions on how to get there. Bangash apparently “challenged” the bomber and tried to chase him down. In a panic the bomber detonated his bomb, killing himself and the boy and injuring two others.

How many people do you know that would chase down a suicide bomber? Who knows how many of the hundreds of students gathered for assembly would have died or gotten hurt if this boy hadn’t acted.

Apparently, residents in the area of the school are trying to have the boy recognized with a posthumous award for his bravery.

Pakistanis on social media are praising Aitazaz’s bravery, with people on Twitter asking everyone to use hashtags #onemillionaitzazs or simply #aitzaz and calling for his heroism to be recognized with an award.

I don’t think many of us here in the United State can even fathom the kind of violence that people have to endure in some parts of the world, but I think we can all agree that this boy's actions qualify as ‘heroic.’

My thoughts go out to all of this brave boy’s friends and family.

[KDVR]

[CNN]