Taliban Say They Shot 14-Year-Old Pakistani Girl Who Exposed Their Cruelty
by Mark Memmott, National Public Radio
October 9, 2012
"Shooting attacks happen every day in Pakistan," as NPR's Philip Reeves reports from Islamabad.
But the shooting of a 14-year-old girl who became nationally known after she documented the Taliban's cruelty in Pakistan's Swat Valley has caused particular shock in that country, he tells our Newscast Desk.
The Pakistani Taliban are claiming their fighters carried out today's attack. According to Philip, "officials say Malala Yousufzai was outside her school when a gunman approached, and opened fire, injuring her and at least one other child."
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper says it has been told by a spokesman for the Taliban that the girl was targeted for spreading "anti-Taliban and 'secular' thoughts among the youth of the area." Malala, Dawn says, was "hit by couple of bullets to her neck and head." While hospitalized, she is said to be "out of danger." She may, though, need to be sent overseas for treatment.
The Taliban reportedly say they'll target her again.
As Philip reminds us, "Malala is a national figure. She lives in Swat Valley and was there several years ago when the Taliban took control and began burning down girls' schools. The Pakistani army rolled in, in 2009, to retake the area. Malala wrote an anonymous diary, broadcast on the BBC, about life under the Taliban. She advocated education for girls, and defied the militants' ban on this by secretly going to school with her books hidden in her clothes. Her bravery was recognized last year when she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize."
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