Determined youngster Malala Yousafzai from the Swat Valley district was shot on her way home from school by the hardline militants because of her blog campaign for girls rights which they said “promoted secularism” – freedom from religious rule.
Surgeons removed the bullet early on Wednesday morning after Yousafzai was flown to the city of Peshawar for intensive treatment. Two other girls are reported to have been injured during the attack.
“We have thoroughly examined her, she is in critical condition. The bullet travelled from her head and then lodged in the back shoulder, near the neck,” an anonymous doctor told AFP yesterday.
Yousafzai rose to fame at the age of 11 on the BBC’s Urdu website where she regularly updated a diary telling the world about schools in the area being destroyed by militants and their interpretation of Sharia law. You can read the diaries on the BBC website here, which were written under the assumed identity of Gul Makai.
The BBC reports that thousands of people around the world have sent messages support to the young campaigner, who has previously been awarded the National Peace Award in Pakistan as well as being nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. President Zardari has condemned the attack and asked for Yousufazi to be provided with the best medical treatment available, according to Dawn.com.
