Taliban vows to kill wounded schoolgirl
The schoolgirl is fighting for her life and has been transferred from a hospital in a province that is a militant haven to a specialist hospital in the army garrison town of Rawalpindi.
Malala Yousufzai, 14, was unconscious and in a critical condition after being shot in the head and neck as she left school on Tuesday, but doctors said she had moved her arms and legs slightly the night before.
Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet on Wednesday from Yousufzai who was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls.
The shooting has drawn condemnation from world leaders and many Pakistanis.
Yousufzai began standing up to the Pakistani Taliban when she was 11, when the government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley, north-west of Islamabad, where she lives to the militants.
Her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, who runs a girls’ school, said his daughter had defied threats for years, believing the good work she was doing for her community was her best protection.
She has now been moved from an army hospital in the regional capital of Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi.
“Pray for her,” her uncle Faiz Mohammed said before the ambulance left.
The Taliban has promised to hunt her down again. “Any female that, by any means, plays a role in the war against mujahedeen should be killed,” Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said.
On the day of the shooting, The Express Tribune reported that the Taliban said they “will target her again if she survives because she was a ‘secular-minded lady’”.
She was shot with two other girls on Tuesday as she left school. One of the girls is out of danger and the other remains in critical condition.
Authorities had identified her attackers, said regional governor Masood Kausar. The local government has posted a €77,000 reward for their capture.
“The security agencies are closely working with each other and they have a lot of information about the perpetrators. We hope our security agencies will soon capture them and bring to justice,” he said.
The attack outraged many in Pakistan, with small, impromptu rallies held in her support in many cities.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said “The president found the news reprehensible and disgusting and tragic,” he said.
