Pakistani soldiers ride on a pickup truck in Mingora, the capital of Swat valley/AFP
Malala Yousafzai, 14, won international prominence for highlighting Taliban atrocities in Swat by blogging for the BBC.
She received the first ever national peace award from the Pakistani government last year and was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by advocacy group KidsRights Foundation in 2011.
The shocking incident in broad daylight in Mingora, the main town of the once much-loved northwestern valley, raised serious questions about security more than three years after the army claimed to have crushed a Taliban insurgency.
Doctors at the Saidu Sharif Medical Complex in Mingora said that Malala was out of danger after the bullet penetrated her skull but missed her brain.
“A bullet struck her head, but the brain is safe,” said Doctor Taj Mohammed.
“She is out of danger,” he added.
Doctor Lal Noor, from the same hospital, confirmed that the bullet broke her skull but missed her brain.
“The bullet struck her skull and came out on the other side and hit her shoulder,” he told AFP.
Police said one of Malala’s friends, another schoolgirl, was also hurt.
“Malala was getting into her school bus after school when two gunmen opened fire on her, injuring her and one of her friends,” police official Rasool Shah told AFP.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting.
Provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain blamed the attack on terrorists and said Malala would be flown by helicopter to the northwestern city of Peshawar for further treatment.
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