15/10/2012

Pakistani Schoolgirl Shot By Taliban En-Route To UK For Specialist Treatment

A Pakistani schoolgirl who had campaigned for the rights of young females to an educations, is on her way to the UK for specialist medical treatment after being shot by the Taliban.

14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck last Tuesday while she sat with classmates on a school bus about to drive students home after morning classes in Mingora, a city in the Swat valley.

The attack prompted widespread revulsion in Pakistan and abroad. It also raised fresh questions about the state's ability to tackle militancy.

Malala's life was saved by neurosurgeons in a Pakistani military hospital and she has since been in intensive care.

Doctors have recommended she be transferred to a UK centre "which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury", a Pakistani military spokesman said.

The flight left Rawalpindi on Monday morning. She is travelling with an army intensive care assistant on a specially equipped air ambulance leased from the UAE and will be treated in Birmingham at the Queen Elizabeth hospital, an NHS hospital with a specialist major trauma centre.

The Foreign Office said the move followed an offer by the UK government to assist Malala in any way that it could.

The Pakistani government is bearing the costs of transportation and treatment.

The Taliban issued a statement claiming it was obligatory to kill anyone "leading a campaign" against Islamic law, and warned it would again attempt to kill her if she recovered from her injuries.

Police have arrested at least three suspects in connection with the attack but the two gunmen who carried out the shooting remain at large.

(H)


Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

13 January 2009
Miliband Puts Pressure On Pakistani Authorities
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has called on Pakistani authorities to take action against those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks. Mr Miliband told the government of responsibility that rests on its shoulders, and the importance of bringing the murders to justice.
04 January 2013
Malala Yousafzai Leaves Hospital
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl activist shot in the head by the Taliban, has been discharged from a Birmingham hospital as an inpatient. The 15-year-old was being treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEHB) after being transferred following the attack in October.
09 July 2003
Rise in crack users sent for treatment
More crack users are being targeted in custody and referred to drug treatment services, a new report published by the Home Office claims. The 'Arrest Referral' report shows that between October 2001 and September 2002, 12,014 crack users were interviewed, and of those 8,656 were referred to specialist drug treatment services - 18.
24 August 2005
TUC calls for end to Muslim poverty
The government has been urged to tackle poverty and poor health and create jobs for UK Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin, in a report by the Trades Union Congress. The report claimed that people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin are among the most deprived in the UK, with 69% living in poverty, compared to 20% of white people.
25 November 2009
Met Women's 'On The Beat' Anniversary
It is 90 years since the first female Metropolitan Police officers donned their uniforms and began policing London. To celebrate this milestone an event was held this week, hosted by Martin Tiplady Director of Human Resources, at the official MPS historical archives 'The Met Collection' in West Brompton.