Pakistani girl improving after shooting, doctors say

Associated Press

LONDON

The British hospital treating a 15-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban raised hopes for her recovery Friday when doctors said she was able to stand with some help and to write.

Malala Yousufzai appeared with her eyes open and alert as she lay in a hospital bed, in the first photographs released by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham since she arrived from Pakistan on Monday.

It was a series of positive developments since the shooting, which was a brazen bid by the Taliban to silence the girl, who has been an outspoken advocate for girls’ right to education.

Still, doctors said she shows signs of infection and faces a long, difficult recovery with uncertain prospects.

Malala has come to be a symbol for a girl’s right to education.

At the age of 11, she began writing a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about life under the Taliban in the Swat Valley. After the military ousted the militants in 2009, she began publicly speaking out about the need for girls’ education.

She appeared frequently in the media and was given one of the country’s highest civilian honors for her bravery.

Malala was shot and critically wounded Oct. 9 as she headed home from school in the northwest Swat Valley.

The Taliban said they targeted Malala because she promoted “Western thinking” and was critical of the militant group.