Pakistani Teen Malala Flown To UK For Treatment

Malala Yousufzai, 14-year-old activist from the Swat region was flown to the UK for specialized treatment early Monday morning in an air ambulance provided by United Arab Emirates, military spokesman said in a statement.

"The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury," said the spokesman in a statement, Reuters reported.

She was under treatment at a military hospital in Rawalpindi and her condition was stable and she was making steady and slow progress, according to the statement.

Yusufzai who has become a symbol of girls’ education in Pakistan after the Taliban’s assassination bid, requires prolonged medical care to fully recover from the physical and psychological trauma she underwent, the statement said.

However, an Al Jazeera report quoting unidentified hospital sources said the girl was in a very critical condition.

"Yousafzai has very limited chance of life left...[The] face and head swelled alot. Face complexion [has] become dark. She could be removed from ventilator within a few hours," the source told Al Jazeera.

The teen activist from Swat district was vocal in criticizing the militant group for depriving women of education and has been pushing for girls’ education in Pakistan through media campaigns. She and her two friends were shot by militants in a school bus Tuesday when they were returning home from school.

Malala Yousufzai became popular in 2007; then an eleven year old she started writing for BBC Urdu about the atrocities committed by the Taliban after they took control of the Swat valley in 2008.   

The shooting of the teen activist and her two friends has drawn worldwide condemnation.

Protests and candle vigils were held in Pakistan and in several other countries showing support to the activist. The government so far has not directly criticized Taliban over the attacks, although it has offered a reward of $100,000 for the capture of the gunmen and has made some arrests.

“Investigations are in the very early stage,” said Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the province where Swat Valley is located, LATimes reported.