A 14-year-old Pakistani girl who campaigned for children's rights is fighting for her life after being shot in the head on her school bus by a Taliban gunman





Malala Yousafzai had campaigned for girls' education and was nominated for an international peace prize.

She won international recognition for highlighting Taliban atrocities in Swat with a blog for the BBC three years ago, when Islamist militants burned girls' schools and terrorized the
valley.
She was shot in broad daylight in Mingora, the main town of the Swat valley, raising serious questions about security more than three years after the army claimed to have crushed a Taliban insurgency there.

Malala was flown to the north-western city of Peshawar where a team of senior doctors said she was in a critical condition. Two other girls were injured in the attack.

Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP the Islamist group carried out the attack after repeatedly warning Malala to stop speaking out against them.

"She is a Western-mindedgirl. She always speaks against us. We will target anyone who speaks against the Taliban," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Malala received the first-ever national peace award from the Pakistani government last year, and was nominated for the International Children'sPeace Prize by advocacy group
KidsRights Foundation in 2011.

The United States has denounced the attack "barbaric" and "cowardly".

"Westrongly condemn the shooting of Malala. Directing violence at childrenis barbaric, it's cowardly, and our hearts go out to her and the others who were wounded, as well as their families," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

abc.net.au/news

Update from http://www.newspakistan.pk
Will not spare if Malala survives in attack: TTP spokespersonThe Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday claimed
responsibility for an attack on Malala Yousafzai, saying that they will
target her again if she survives.
Speaking to the media, TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan termed her a
secular-minded girl, adding that this was a warning for all youngsters
who were involved in similar activates.
Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said his group was behind the shooting.


He noted, “She was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban and she
was calling President Obama her idol. She was young but she was
promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas.”
Meanwhile, doctors at the Military Combined Hospital (CMH) Peshawar
have termed next three days as critical for the health Malala Yousafzai.
According to the reports, the doctors have postponed a surgery,
keeping in view her wounds that are said to be very serious as the girl
was hit in the head from close range. The reports said that a bullet was
still in her head and would be removed through a surgery.
Malala Yousafzai was injured along with two other women when Taliban
gunmen opened fire on a bus in Swat. Two bullets hit Yousafzai, one in
the head and another between the neck and chest.
Yousafzai, who studies at Khushal Public School, was on her way home
when the vehicle came under attack on Haji Baba Road. One of the other
injured has been identified as Shazia and sources say the third was a
teacher.