Taliban shooting of 14-year old sparks outrage in Pakistan
Hundreds of people took to the streets to show their anti-Islamist sentiment after the Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for shooting a 14-year-old Pakistani girl in the head.
Pakistani women, hold banners during a protest condemning the attack on 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 10.
Muhammed Muheisen/AP
Lahore, Pakistan
Political leaders and media have joined students, activists, and a broad segment of Pakistanis in condemning the Pakistani Taliban for shooting a 14-year-old girl in the head and neck, leaving her in critical condition this week.
The girl, Malala Yousafzai, is a children's rights activist who blogged about life under the Taliban also known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) when it occupied her home district of Swat in 2009. She is known for her media appearances bringing attention to atrocities carried out by the militant group.
The shooting prompted widespread outrage against the Pakistani Taliban and Islamist militancy among ordinary Pakistanis – and some hope that the strong reaction would prompt some type of change. Though officials have offered a 10 million rupee ($105,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the girl's assailants, human rights activists, however, remain skeptical.
“This is not the first time that extremist militant groups have carried out atrocities. I am pleased to see the strong reaction, but fear that little will change,” says I. A. Rehman, the Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
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