Police in Pakistan have recommended that a teenager killed stopping a suicide bomber from attacking a school be awarded a civilian honour.
Aitzaz Hassan, 15, a student in Hangu district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the country's northwest, tackled the bomber on Monday.
He died in hospital after the bomber blew himself up at the school gates. No one else was hurt in the incident.
Nasir Khan Durrani, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief of police, has written to the provincial chief minister recommending Hassan for the posthumous award, a police statement issued on late Thursday said.
"The suicide bomber tried to enter the school where hundreds of students were studying. Aitzaz Hassan sacrificed his life and stopped the bomber with bravery and courage," the statement said.
"He saved the lives of hundreds of innocent students with his extreme valour and bravery."
Pakistan has several categories of civilian award and it will fall to the government to decide which, if any, Hassan should receive.
The boy's father, Mujahid Ali Bangash, told AFP on Thursday that he felt not sadness but pride at his son's death.
"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," he said.
"I will be even more than happy if my second son also sacrifices his life for the country."
An editorial in Dawn, the country's oldest English-language newspaper, said Hassan's selfless bravery should be an inspiration to other Pakistanis and a lesson to the authorities in the courage needed to stand up to extremists.
