A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban in retaliation for her campaign for the right to education, is making “slow and steady progress” in her recovery, the military said yesterday.
The shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai has been denounced worldwide and by the Pakistani authorities, who have offered a reward of more than US$100,000 for the capture of her attackers.
She is being treated at the country’s top military hospital in Rawalpindi, the twin city of the capital Islamabad, and on Saturday she showed signs of improvement by moving her hands and feet.
“Doctors have reviewed Malala’s condition and are satisfied,” military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said yesterday. “She is making slow and steady progress which is in keeping with expectations. Recovery from this type of injury is always slow.”
Doctors are continuing to monitor Malala’s condition and were to carry out a detailed examination yesterday evening, Bajwa said.
The cold-blooded murder attempt has sickened Pakistan, where Malala came to prominence with a blog for the BBC highlighting atrocities under the Taliban, who terrorized the Swat valley from 2007 until a 2009 army offensive.
Activists say the shooting should be a wake-up call to whose who advocate appeasement with the Taliban, but analysts suspect there will be no significant change in a country that has sponsored radical Islam for decades.
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