Pakistan Teen Is Killed Saving School From Bomber

A 15-year-old kid in Pakistan is being hailed as a hero after local reports say he was killed while stopping a suicide bomber from entering his school. As the Express Tribune reports, Aitizaz Hasan was standing with two friends outside his school in Hangu when a man approached and said he needed to go inside. When one of the friends spotted a detonator, he and the other youth fled. But Aitizaz grabbed the bomber, who then set off his explosive and killed them both. Authorities credit him with saving the 2,000 or so people who were inside the school at the time.

The story is spreading quickly on social media, with calls to honor the teen posthumously, reports the Guardian. Attacks against Shiites in the town are common, notes NPR, and critics say authorities are too timid to stop them. "We live in a land where a young child had to give his life fighting a scourge that our own leaders bend over backwards in an attempt to appease," writes journalist Zarrar Khuhro in the Dawn newspaper. (Click for the story of another hero.)