Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for attack on peace award girl

Pakistani Taliban Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack on a 14-year girl, Malala Yousafzai, who has received several awards for her courage to stand against the militants in her Swat valley. Malalai was shot and injured by gunmen when she was returning home from schools in a van in Mingora, a main city in Swat, police and witnesses said. She was flown in a helicopter to the Peshawar and is under treatment in military hospital. Taliban claimed responsibility and said that they will target her again if she survives because she was a "secular-minded lady." The TTP spokesman, Ihsanullah Ihsan, told the media on phone that this was a warning for all youngsters who were involved in similar activities and added that they will be targeted if they do not stop. Malala had been writing against the militants with changed name when Taliban had in control of Swat valley in 2009. The gunmen fled after the firing and District Police Officer in Swat, Rasool Shah, said that a search operation was conducted in the area and a number of suspects have been arrested. Yousufzai was earlier shifted to a local hospital but the doctors referred her to Peshawar in view of her condition. Doctors in Swat said that Yousufzai was out of danger after the bullet penetrated her skull but missed her brain. Attack on Malalai was widely condemned in Pakistan by the President, the Prime Minister, the opposition leaders and lawmakers. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf held a telephonic conversation with the father of Yousafzai and expressed concerns over an attack on her by gunmen when she was returning home from school which also injured Malala's friends, the PM office said. He strongly condemned the incident and assured him that the government will bear all the medical expenses on their treatment. He also informed him that he had directed the hospital authorities to extend best medical treatment and care to Malala as well as her friends who were injured in the attack.