Trump orders first US military execution by firing squad since 1945 for Fort Hood shooter

President Trump has approved a firing squad for the first US military death sentence in more than 80 years, as the Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood awaits his execution date.

Former US Army major Nidal Malik Hasan will face death by firing squad at a date and time which is set to be chosen by The Secretary of the Army, Adam R. Telle.

The 56-year-old fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, injuring another 32, and has been on death row since 2013.

But while nearly all inmates in the US are put to death via lethal injection - which proved not to be so lethal in the recent case of Christa Pike - the Pentagon announced Hasan's unusual fate in a statement just yesterday.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote: "Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended - and President Donald J. Trump has approved - death by US Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.

A date is yet to be set for his execution. (US Government Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences via Getty Images)

"He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting 'Allahu Akbar' during the attack. The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution.

He added: "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come."

The mass murder, which unfolded on 5 November 2009, were the deadliest ever non-combat attack on an American military base, and Hasan is just one of four inmates on the US military's death row.

During his court hearing, Hasan admitted to the crime and apologized for 'any mistakes' he had made.

He has spent the last 13 years on military death row. (Bell County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images)

Death by firing squad was among several methods of capital punishment recently approved by the Trump administration for the most serious federal crimes, alongside electrocution and gas asphyxiation.

In a statement issued to UNILAD following yesterday's announcement, Death Penalty Action, which opposes capital punishment, said: "There is nothing Donald Trump loves more than the power to kill. In his first term he oversaw more executions than any president since FDR.

"If it actually happens, this will be the first military execution since 1961. Truly, this is just another distraction and a ploy to stem his record low approval ratings."

The organization added: "Just as we led protests outside the prison opposing every one of his federal executions, Death Penalty Action will oppose military executions as well."

According to military law, a military execution requires approval from the US president.