Pakistani girl who spoke out against Taliban shot, wounded

Source: Reuters

Gunmen in Pakistan shot and seriously wounded on Tuesday a 14-year-old schoolgirl who rose to fame for speaking out against Taliban militants, authorities said.

Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head and neck when gunmen fired on her school bus in the Swat valley, northwest of the capital, Islamabad. Two other girls were also wounded, police said.

Yousufzai became famous for speaking out against the Pakistani Taliban at a time when even the government seemed to be appeasing the hardline Islamists.

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The Taliban set up courts, executed residents and closed girls' schools, including the one that Yousufzai attended. A documentary team filmed her weeping as she explained her ambition to be a doctor.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/09/us-pakistan-schoolgirl-idUSBRE8980EB20121009

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TTP accepts attacking Malala Yousafzai in Swat

PESHAWAR: Pakistani Taliban accepts responsibility of attacking National Peace Award winner and young Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousufzai, who with another girl was injured in the attack on their school van on Tuesday, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to Dawn.com’s correspondent Zahir Shah Sherazi from an undisclosed destination, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said that the TTP accepts responsibility of the attack as Malala was propagating anti-Taliban and ‘secular’ thoughts among the youth of the area.

Malala was returning home from her school in Swat’s Mingora area when her van was attacked by the gunmen.

Certain media outlets reported that the gunmen attacked the van on identifying the young children’s rights activist.

http://dawn.com/2012/10/09/malala-yousufzai-injured-in-gun-attack-on-school-van-in-swat/