US President Donald Trump has approved the execution of former U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, sentenced to death for the 2009 attack at Fort Hood military base in Texas.

If the execution is carried out, it will be the first US military execution since 1961 and the first by firing squad since 1945. The decision was proposed by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, while the Pentagon is now entitled to determine further steps, Television broadcasts.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that the Secretary of Army will determine the timing and location of the execution. Presidential approval does not necessarily mean that the execution will be carried out immediately, as Hasan may still pursue other legal ways to postpone it.

Hasan, then major and psychiatrist of the US Army, opened fire on November 5, 2009, at a medical center in Fort Hood, where soldiers were preparing for dislocation. The attack left 13 people dead, including 12 active soldiers and a former military man, while 32 others were injured.

In the 2013 military trial, Hasan was found guilty of 45 counts, including attempted murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to death. He had admitted to being the person who had carried out the attack and said he had acted to prevent American soldiers from going to Afghanistan and fighting Muslims.

Executions in the American military system are extremely rare. Hasan is one of only four prisoners currently located in the military warhead of Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas.

Under American military law, a death sentence handed down by the military court must be approved by the president before it is implemented. The process also includes judicial reviews and complaints, what might happen

The last U.S. military execution was carried out in 1961 when soldier John Bennett was hanged in Fort Leavenworth. While the last known execution by the U.S. Army dates back to November 1945, when firing was used with firearms.

The invasion is a rare method of execution at the state level as well. In 2025, South Carolina carried out the first U.S. shooting execution after 15 years. Currently, some American states allow this method.

Hasan’s decision comes only days after the failure of Christa Pike’s execution in Tennessee through lethal injection. The case has brought to focus execution methods and practical difficulties related to lethal injections.

In Hasan’s case, however, there is still no specific date for execution, and legal procedures can further extend the process. /Telegraphy/