Malala Yousufzai,
the Pakistani schoolgirl activist shot in the head by the Taliban, is on her
way to Britain for treatment as she struggles to recover from her injuries, the
Pakistani military said Monday.
The flight taking Malala, 14, from
the military hospital in the town of Rawalpindi to an as yet undisclosed
location in Britain is expected to take about eight hours, said military
spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa.
"The medical team is pleased
with her present condition which has been described as optimal," the
military said in a statement Monday. That provided the window of opportunity to
transfer her to a facility in Britain specializing in care for children with
severe injuries, it said.
Malala has gained renown in
Pakistan and around the globe for her efforts defending the right of girls to
go to school where she lives, the Taliban-heavy Swat Valley.
She was riding home in a school van
Tuesday in the tense region, which sits along the Afghan border, when gunmen
jumped into the vehicle and demanded to know which girl she was. Her horrified
classmates pointed to her, and the men fired. Two other girls were wounded, but
not seriously.
Malala was rushed to a hospital in
the northwestern city of Peshawar where doctors worked to tackle the swelling
of her brain and removed a bullet lodged in her neck. She was then moved to a
military hospital in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, which has a specialized
pediatric intensive care unit.
The decision to send her to Britain
was based on the expectation that she will need to have the damaged bones in
her skull repaired or replaced, as well as intensive neurological
rehabilitation, the military said Monday.
Malala's family was consulted on
the matter "and their wishes were also taken into consideration," it
said.
The young and unlikely activist
rose to prominence for blogging about how girls should have rights in Pakistan,
including the right to learn. She spoke out in a region of the country where
support for Islamic fundamentalism runs high.
"I have the right of
education," she said in a CNN interview last year. "I have the right
to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right
to go to market. I have the right to speak up."
Malala, whose writing earned her
Pakistan's first National Peace Prize, also encouraged young people to take a
stand against the Taliban -- and to not hide in their bedrooms.
Police have detained and questioned
scores of people in efforts to find her attackers.
The Taliban, who say no girl should
be educated, have claimed responsibility for the shooting. They have threatened
to go after Malala again if she survives.
"We do not tolerate people
like Malala speaking against us," Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said.
In the wake of the shooting, the
teenage activist has come to symbolize a struggle in Pakistan between freedom
and oppression, violence and peace.
On her blog, Malala often wrote
about her life in Swat Valley, a hotbed of militant activity.
The valley near the Afghanistan
border once attracted tourists to Pakistan's only ski resort, as well as
visitors to the ancient Buddhist ruins in the area. But that was before
militants -- their faces covered -- unleashed a wave of violence in 2003.
They demanded veils for women,
beards for men and a ban on music and television. They allowed boys' schools to
operate but closed those for girls.
But young Malala defied the Taliban
edict, demanding an education.
For that, she got a bullet to the
head -- and the attention of much of the world.
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