My son is a martyr, proud of him: Aitzaz Hasan`s father

Zee Media Bureau Islamabad: The `heroic` Pakistani teen Aitzaz Hasan who died foiling a suicide attack on his school has become a national hero and is being hailed world-wide. While showing no sadness on his face Hasan`s father, Mujahid Ali said, “Many people are coming to see me, but if they try to express sympathy, I tell them to congratulate me instead on becoming the father of a martyr.” The government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan declared Aitzaz Hasan, a 14-year-old student who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber at his school, a "great hero". Hasan, a Class IX student, died when the suicide bomber blew himself up after he was stopped by the student at the gate of the government school at Ibrahimzai in Hangu district. The teenager saved the lives of hundreds of students by preventing the bomber from entering the school. Ibrahimzai is a Shia-dominated area and the attack was claimed by the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a notorious extremist group. Meanwhile, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban to champion girls` rights to education, paid tribute to Aitzaz today. Malala described him as "brave and courageous". "In sacrificing his own life, Aitzaz protected hundreds of innocent young students from being killed," she said in a statement.