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Malala Visits Native Pakistan for First Time Since Being Shot by Taliban

by Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD --

   Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai returned Thursday to her native
   Pakistan, nearly six years after she was shot by Islamist militants in
   her northwestern home district of Swat for advocating female education.

   Officials said that the 20-year-old global education activist met with
   Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi just hours after landing in
   Islamabad. She is also scheduled to meet civil society representatives.

   Malala was returning home in October 2012 when masked gunmen
   intercepted her school van and shot her in the head. The young girl
   sustained several skull injuries and after receiving emergency
   treatment at a Pakistan army hospital, she was flown to Britain to
   undergo surgery.

   The outlawed Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for plotting the
   attack and vowed to target her again. The group justified its action,
   accusing Malala of promoting western culture.

   Malala has since been living in Britain and studying at Oxford
   University. She is the co-founder of Malala Fund helping girls receive
   secondary education in conflict-hit countries, including Syria, Kenya,
   Nigeria, Jordan and Pakistan.

   The Malala Fund champions every girl's right to 12 years of free, safe
   and quality education. Malala began speaking out at the age of 11 for
   girls' education in her largely conservative home district.

   At age 17, she became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
   in 2014 for championing the cause of female education.

   Malala has used her Nobel Prize money to build a girls' school in Swat
   that was inaugurated earlier this month. Local media speculated she
   might visit the school.

   Swat used to be a stronghold of the militants who had blown up girls
   schools and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or
   sharia, until a major military operation flushed them out of the scenic
   valley in 2009