The Taliban have kidnapped me and tortured me in the past for promoting women’s development, but now they are threatening the entire family.Reyatullah Khan, father of 17-year-old Pakistani activist Hinna Khan - Hinna recently received a phone call, allegedly from Taliban gunmen in Pakistan’s Swat valley, claiming that she and her family would be killed if they did not stop speaking out against the militant group. Her parents have long opposed the Taliban presence in Pakistan, and were thrown out of their home for such opposition during the Taliban takeover of the Swat valley in 2009. Many believe the Taliban are attempting to re-establish legitimacy in the region after gunmen, who opened fired at point blank range, failed to kill 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai earlier this month. source
An infamous Taliban cleric from Pakistan’s Swat valley is believed to be the man who ordered the assassination of Malala Yousufzai while she was on her way to school last week. The 14-year-old female activist survived multiple gunshots from point-blank range, and is currently in the UK under the watch of medical experts following a successful surgery to have a bullet near her spinal cord removed. Militant leader Mullah Fazlullah is currently on the run from both NATO and Pakistani forces, no longer thought to be in day-to-day command of his Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Sharia, and possibly hiding in the Konar province of Afghanistan. source
She used to propagate against mujahideen (holy warriors) to defame (the) Taliban. The Quran says that people propagating against Islam and Islamic forces would be killed. We targeted her because she would speak against the Taliban while sitting with shameless strangers and idealized the biggest enemy of Islam, Barack Obama.Pakistan’s Taliban, via a written statement • Addressing the militant group’s decision to ambush a school bus carrying 14-year-old female activist Malala Yousufzai last week. Yousufzai became a vocal opponent of the Taliban after the group closed a number of all-female schools in Pakistan’s Swat valley, including the school which Malala attended at the time. She was airlifted from Pakistan to the UK yesterday to undergo additional treatment following successful surgery to remove a bullet near her spinal cord. “We did not attack her for raising voice for education,” the Taliban said in the statement, adding, “We targeted her for opposing mujahideen and their war. Shariah (Islamic law) says that even a child can be killed if he is propagating against Islam.” source
A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban has every chance of making a “good recovery”, British doctors said on Monday as 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai arrived at a hospital in central England for treatment of her severe wounds.
Yousufzai, who was shot for advocating education for girls, was flown from Pakistan to receive specialist treatment at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital at a unit expert in dealing with complex trauma cases that has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.
“Doctors…believe she has a chance of making a good recovery on every level,” said Dr Dave Rosser, the hospital’s medical director, adding that her treatment and rehabilitation could take months.
Promising news regarding the health of Malala Yousufzai, an outspoken 14-year-old critic of the Taliban, whose school bus was attacked by multiple gunmen last week. While Yousufzai underwent successful surgery to remove a bullet near her spinal cord the day after the attack, she will need intensive follow-up care and treatment, and will hopefully make a full recovery with the aid of British health experts.
We will never be subdued by the militants and their acts. Islam gives us the right to education and we will fight for our rights. We will never ever give up our mission. …This land needs us and we can only help Pakistan if we can complete our education.An anonymous teenager, who attended school with Malala Yousafzai • Speaking out against the Pakistani Taliban, who earlier this week attempted to murder the 14-year-old Yousafzai in retaliation for her anti-Taliban activism and blogging. The school Yousafzai attends has been closed since the attack, in which she was shot, but a contingent of her classmates showed up today to pray for her safety. Yousafzai currently remains in a coma, under the care of military surgeons. source
Taliban gunmen in Pakistan shot and seriously wounded on Tuesday a 14-year-old schoolgirl who rose to fame for speaking out against the militants, authorities said.
Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head and neck when gunmen fired on her school bus in the Swat valley, northwest of the capital, Islamabad. Two other girls were also wounded, police said.
Yousufzai became famous for speaking out against the Pakistani Taliban at a time when even the government seemed to be appeasing the hardline Islamists.
The government agreed to a ceasefire with the Taliban in Swat in early 2009, effectively recognizing insurgent control of the valley whose lakes and mountains had long been a tourist attraction.
The Taliban set up courts, executed residents and closed girls’ schools, including the one that Yousufzai attended.
Yousufzai is currently in critical condition, but under the care of doctors at the Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital in the Swat valley. Our thoughts are with Malala, her family, and the families of the other victims in this horrible act of violence.
We want to give a message to America that the more you carry out drone attacks, the more people will hate you.Pakistani politician Imran Khan • Speaking during a protest against drone strikes near the border of South Waziristan. Khan, who was joined by some Western activists from Code Pink, along with thousands of Pakistanis, attempted to cross the border into the tribal region only to be turned back by the Pakistani military.
Controversial creator of Pakistan’s nuclear program considers politics: Abdul Qadeer Khan, who in the 1970s and 1980s helped Pakistan catch up with India by building a nuclear program, wants to help add a spark to his country’s political scene. (This is despite a 2004 fall from grace, when he was put under house arrest for selling state secrets to Iran — something that’s made him a bit of a controversial figure to this day.) “I want to bring change and help the people of Pakistan, like I did back in 1974, when India test fired its nukes,” Khan said. “Now, today, once again this country needs my help.” It’ll be interesting to see if he can make a comeback.
Today in the U.S. losing patience (part two): While Hillary Clinton was toughening up her stance against Bashar al-Assad, Leon Panetta was getting similarly tough on Pakistan, which he claims is ”allowing terrorists to use their country as a safety net in order to conduct their attacks on our forces.” Panetta has been tough on Pakistan in the past, particularly their inaction regarding fighting terrorism, despite the U.S. giving the country billions of dollars in aid. Pakistan’s relationship with the U.S. was recently strained when they jailed a doctor who helped American forces find Osama bin Laden. (Above: Panetta with Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak, via the Secretary of Defense’s Flickr page)
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I think as far as the case of Mr. Afridi is concerned, it was in accordance with Pakistani laws and by the Pakistani courts, and we need to respect each other’s legal processes.Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Moazzam Ali Khan • Discussing the sentence the country gave to Dr. Shakil Afridi for ”conspiring ‘to wage war against Pakistan or depriving it of its sovereignty,’ ‘concealing existence of a plan to wage war against Pakistan’ and ‘condemnation of the creation of the state and advocacy of abolition of its sovereignty’,” according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn. Afridi’s work running a vaccination program that doubled as a DNA-tracing program helped the U.S. find Osama bin Laden, making the decision to imprison Afridi one that has built tension between the two countries. Will the U.S. respect Pakistan’s decision?
» And no, the U.S. isn’t happy: Previously, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped to see Shakil Afridi freed, as his work helped capture a pretty bad dude. Instead, Afridi is heading to jail, a move which will likely strain relations between the U.S. and Pakistan, who are currently locked in a diplomatic battle over Afghan War supply routes. (EDIT: We apologize for the inital error in the title. Total accident. Sorry guys.)
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So, what was al-Qaeda’s network like? After a year, we finally have insight at a level we never did before, from the Abbottabad compound where the al-Qaeda leader was killed almost exactly one year ago. The documents show the group’s struggle to keep a consistent message, with debates on how to market itself to appeal more to Muslims and how to best target the U.S. The New York Times has a pretty solid summary, but if you’re looking to dig in, our pal Matt has put everything in a Scribd document perfect for digging.
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