Who knew that the BOY SCOUTS were training kids to become THIS badass?!?

–Yesterday, in the Maldives . . . which is a country, made up of a bunch of small islands, in the Indian Ocean . . . an assassination attempt was made on the president and he was saved by . . . a BOY SCOUT.

–70-year-old Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is the president of the Maldives and yesterday, he went to one of the islands in the country, called Hoarafushi. A crowd had gathered to greet him.

–As the president walked through the crowd, 20-year-old Mohamed Murshid pulled out a knife that he’d wrapped in the Maldives flag and ran up to try to STAB and kill Gayoom.

–But the Boy Scout, 15-year-old Mohamed Jaisham Ibrahim, saw what was happening . . . ran over, and fought the knife out of Murshid’s hand. THEN Gayoom’s security guards figured out what was happening and tackled Murshid.

–During the assassination attempt, Gayoom’s shirt got torn and Ibrahim got a deep cut in his hand while he was wrestling the knife away.

–Ibrahim was flown to a hospital in Male, which is the capital of the Maldives, for treatment on his hand.

–A government spokesman says they don’t know the motivation for the assassination attempt yet. Islamic militants HAVE been performing terrorist acts in the Maldives . . . including a bombing last year . . . so the government thinks they could be responsible.

–In the Maldives, the Boy Scouts are just like the ones in the U.S. . . . they do things like camping and learn about first aid . . . and their motto is “Be prepared.”

–Gayoom has been president since 1978, and helped turn the Maldives into a major luxury tourism spot.

(Haveeru / MSNBC / Arizona Republic)

(–I guess Ibrahim earned himself the rare “Saving a president from getting assassinated” merit badge, huh??? Here’s a photo of Gayoom shaking Ibrahim’s hand, JUST before Ibrahim saved his life . . .)