NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of former US Army Major Nidal Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

The decision was taken on the recommendation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said. The Secretary of the Army will determine the time and place of the execution. Reports say the execution is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, although Hasan could still pursue further legal action.

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at the time, opened fire at a medical facility at the military base on November 5, 2009. The attack killed 12 active-duty soldiers and one retired serviceman and injured 32 others. He was convicted by a military jury in 2013 and sentenced to death.

If carried out, the execution would be the first by the US military since 1961 and the first military firing-squad execution since 1945. The firing squad is among several execution methods recently added to permissible federal methods by the Trump administration.