Aitzaz Hasan Bangash, who saved the lives of hundreds of schoolmates when he threw himself at a suicide bomber in another Taliban attack just weeks ago, is being remembered today as Pakistan mourns those who died in the massacre overnight. Source: Supplied

Aitzaz Hasan Bangash, 14, was on his way to the Ibrahimzai School in the Hangu district of the volatile northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when the bomber, a young man dressed in a school uniform, asked him for directions.

Aitzaz’s cousin Musadiq Ali Bangash, who was also present, later told journalists they both felt something was not right about the stranger.

Classmates sit next to a portrait of Aitzaz at school today as they mourn their peers massacred by the Taliban overnight. Source: AP

“The other students backed off, but Aitazaz challenged the bomber and tried to catch him. During the scuffle, the bomber panicked and detonated his bomb,” Musadiq said.

TALIBAN SCHOOL MASSACRE: ‘ALL THE CHILDREN WERE BLEEDING’

Aitzaz’s friends tried to stop him confronting the bomber but the boy reportedly threw a stone at the man before running towards him and tackling him at the school gates. Then came an explosion. Aitzaz and the bomber died at the scene and two bystanders were injured.

The ninth-grader’s incredible act of courage prevented carnage at the school, which is attended by 2,000 students.

Students across Pakistan are paying tribute hero Aitzaz Hasan Bangash, 14, who prevented a Taliban attack on another school last month. Source: Supplied

Today, the nation invoked Aitazaz’s name as mourned the devastating loss of 141 lives, 132 of them children, at the Army Public School in Peshawar overnight.

Survivors have described how Taliban gunmen went from classroom to classroom, systematically lining up youngsters and shooting them dead — even the ones cowering in fear under desks.

Employee Mudassir Awan said he saw six people scaling the walls of the school.

“We thought it must be the children playing some game,” he told Reuters. “But then we saw a lot of firearms with them.

“As soon as the firing started, we ran to our classrooms. “They were entering every class and they were killing the children.”

Disturbing new details of the attack have emerged this morning including accounts of children having been forced to watch as their teacher was doused in fuel and set alight.

“They burnt a teacher in front of the students in a classroom,” an unnamed military source told NBC.

“They literally set the teacher on fire with gasoline and made the kids watch.”

Pakistani officials have yet to verify the burning of the teacher or other reports that some of the bodies of the dead schoolchildren are being brought into the hospital headless.

Relatives of a boy wounded in the school massacre visit him in hospital. Source: AP

Initial reports said the massacre was retaliation for Pakistani student activist Malala Yousafzai receiving the Nobel Peace Prize after being shot in the head by the Taliban.

However, the Pakistani Taliban said this morning it was a “revenge” attack following an army offensive against Islamic extremists in North Waziristan and in nearby Khyber.

“We selected the army’s school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females,” Taliban spokesman Muhammad Umar Khorasani told Reuters.

“We want them to feel the pain.”

The school Aitzaz attended is located on the border of the disputed region.

Rescuers carry a child wounded in the Peshawar school massacre Source: AP

The massacre drew sharp condemnation from top Pakistani officials, who vowed that the country wouldn’t stop its war against the Taliban.

“We are undeterred. ... We will not back off,” Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told CNN.

But he said the ambush at the school is another example of how great his nation’s sacrifices have been in fighting that’s raged for more than a decade.

“Even the children are dying on the frontline in the war against terror,” the minister said. “The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to carry. ... It’s a very, very tragic day.”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has also condemned the attack.