Malala airlifted to top military hospital in Rawalpindi
Activists carry photographs of Malala Yousufzai during a protest rally against her assassination attempt, Lahore, Oct 10, 2012. — Photo by AFP
PESHAWAR: A Pakistani child activist shot in the head by the Taliban is still in a critical condition and is being airlifted to the country’s top military hospital for specialist treatment, officials said Thursday.
The shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai on a school bus in the Swat valley has been denounced worldwide and by the Pakistani authorities, who have offered a reward of more than $100,000 for the capture of her attackers.
Two of her school friends were also injured in the attack, carried out as retribution for Malala’s campaign for the right to an education during a two-year Taliban insurgency in Swat that the army claimed to have crushed in 2009.
But as she spent a second day in intensive care questions are mounting about how the attack could have happened in the first place and how the perpetrators simply walked away in an area with a police and army presence.
“Now she needs post surgery care. The doctors recommended that AFIC (Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology) has better facilities for post-surgery care,” military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa told AFP.
Another official confirmed that a helicopter transporting her from the hospital in Peshawar to Rawalpindi, the twin city of the capital Islamabad and the headquarters of the Pakistan army, was making the 25-minute journey with Malala on board.
Bajwa said Malala was still unconscious and that the next 24 hours would be crucial to her progress. On Wednesday, she underwent an operation to remove the bullet from between her shoulders.
One of her doctors, Mumtaz Khan, told AFP that Malala had improved since the operation but that she was still seriously ill.
“She has been put on a ventilator for two days. The bullet has affected some part of the brain, but there is a 70 per cent chance that she will survive,” he said.
Mehmoodul Hasan, one of Malala’s relatives, said the family had been told that doctors were sending her medical reports abroad for advice.
“They are checking if better facilities are available in the UK or Dubai or any other country, then they will decide about sending her abroad, otherwise they will treat her here,” said Hasan.
US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Pakistani leaders have expressed horror at the attack on a girl who won admiration for daring to speak out during the Taliban insurgency, which the army said it had crushed in 2009.
Obama believed the shooting was “reprehensible and disgusting and tragic,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Malala won international prominence after highlighting Taliban atrocities in Swat with a blog for the BBC three years ago, when the Islamist militants burned girls’ schools and terrorised the valley before the army intervened.
She was just 11 then, and her struggle resonated with tens of thousands of girls denied an education by Islamist militants across northwest Pakistan, where the government has been fighting local Taliban since 2007.
The Pakistani provincial government announced a 10 million rupee ($104,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of Malala’s attackers and Interior Minister Rehman Malik has promised to catch the gunmen.
Officers in Swat say dozens of people were rounded up after the attack but no one has been charged.
Local residents say four businessmen and outspoken anti-militancy advocates have been shot in Swat in recent months, raising fears about the scenic valley which Pakistan has been trying to restore as a tourist destination.
Mingora police station chief Ahmad Shah told AFP that nearly 200 people had been detained over Malala’s shooting, including the bus driver and a school watchman, but that most had been released.
Commentators have questioned whether anything will really change in Pakistan after the shooting, despite a call from the army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to further unite against militants and their “barbaric mindset.”
Many in the country blame the United States and the war in neighbouring Afghanistan for the violence. The military has been accused of playing a double game in supporting or at least accommodating Islamist militant groups.
The Taliban, who have killed thousands of people across Pakistan in the last five years and destroyed hundreds of girls’ schools, have issued a statement saying that any female who opposes them should be killed.
It is heart shattering to see such a young brilliant future leader and scholar like Malala being shot in the head, instead of being appreciated in her own land. Her family should be allowed leave Pakistan with Malala where they are more likely to maintain their integrity. True Islam promotes attainment of higher level of knowledge and practice for all humanity so they may live in peace. I hope this young hero recovers and accomplish all her dreams. The angels wept, the heaven cried upon such a horrific attack on a young girl whose mission is to bring true enlightenment into the tender hearts and minds of countless disadvantage children. Yes, the Earth owes this gem a salute due to her courage and wisdom! I am so proud of you Malala!
We are really sad over the shooting of young and brave girl Malala. We wish her early recovery. Aameen
She was a symbol of brave and our beloved country Pakistan is in need of such brave and compitent youth.
Malala is the source of courage that we Pakistanis still have remaining. God will protect her. Ameen.
She is in military hospital for security reasons. Get my point?
What Malala was doing is the real jihad. Those who shot her and their kind are the real kafirs. May Allah give malala and her classmates who were injured a speedy recovery and grant her all the success in this world and the hereafter.
AT THIS VERY MOMENT PEOPLE FROM PAKISTAN AS THE ONLY OPTION OF COOPERATING ON THE HIGHEST LEVEL AGAINST TALIBAN ACTION AND MENTALITY. WE’RE ALL DOING THAT CONSCIOUSLY. THEY BEHAVE LIKE ANIMALS. THEY ACT LIKE ANIMALS. SIMPLE!
THIS GIRL IS A MAJOR SIGN FOR US TO SPLIT EDUCATION AND THE PROPER FREEDOM.
SHE FIGHTS LIKE A REAL LADY.
WE ALL KNOW THAT
YOUNG LADY I MEAN.
It such tragic and horrific. A complete coward act by those two men, attempt to kill, specially a school going 14 year old girl. When there were death threats against Malala, government should have taken more extra security measures, but it didnt. How can a government run, when it cannot protect its people.
Actually there are military hospitals ready to take her in Dubai or UK probably. The nature of the sensitivity of the case is the issue and Pak military has taken responsibility for her care. That’s why she is going to military hospitals first otherwise if Aga Khan or Shaukat Khanum take her no military hospital in UK or Dubai will take her then. That’s the issue.
behram rafiqe .I pray to god your betterment come on gat up and feel well you can do.
oh my dough tor I am crying and praying for your health my pray she will be able to speak in shalla..
What about the other 2 girls that got injured, are they being taken care of?? let’s not forget about them.
Malala! keep fighting you brave little girl. Today, there was a drone strike that killed 16 of those savages who are responsible for that attack on you. Since your government and military are uncapable of protecting you, US is taking revenge for you. GO DRONES!!!!
Today I am every Pakistani who is praying for Malala. May GOD bless her and hope recovers very soon to fight for her fellow citizens. I request everyone ………Hindu,Muslim,Christian,Sikh,.all….. please include Malala in your prayers today………Pakistan needs people like her……the world needs people like her.
My heart goes out to this kid and her family. She is in my prayers and I hope she makes it.
Please recover Malala. The world needs you!
all taliban and mullah’s in Pakistan should be eliminated…they are disgrace to this society.
let the whole world know that we the Pakistanis are suffering terribly at the hands of these barbaric people, we are not terrorists, we are MALALA !!!
Malala is no more just a teenage girl from Pakistan. She is now a wolrd icon for women’s liberation. Malala, your life is precious and we pray for your long life…
WHY EVERY TIME THERE ARE FEMALES WHO ARE BEING TARGETED BY PEOPLE!!
SHE WAS NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG!