Malala visits flood-hit Pakistan 10 years after Taliban shooting
Islamabad, Oct 11 (EFE).- World’s youngest Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai arrived in Pakistan Tuesday to visit areas affected by floods, in which more than 1,700 people have died and 33 million have been affected.
This is her second visit to the country since the Taliban tried to kill her in 2012 with a shot to the head for championing the cause of girls’ education.
“During the visit she is expected to go to Dadu in Sindh and other areas and will have a meeting with Pakistani officials,” the official, who asked not to be named, told EFE.
Malala, 25, arrived in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, coinciding with a rise in insurgency in the her native Swat valley, and protests over the killing of a student and a bus driver in a supposed militant attack.
Malala Fund, a nonprofit she co-founded with her father, has issued an emergency relief grant to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to support relief efforts and protect the well-being of girls and young women in the flooded areas in Pakistan.
The unprecedented floods in the country have left more than 1,700 people dead, including 632 children, and affected more than 33 million people, according to latest official data.
On Oct.9, 2012, a 15-year-old Malala was attacked by members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who approached her school vehicle and shot her in the head.
The teenager was taken to a hospital in Rawalpindi, near the capital, and then later – still in an unconscious state – to the United Kingdom, where she recovered.
This is Malala’s second trip to Pakistan since the attack, following a visit her hometown in May 2018 in which she underscored the rights and role of women in society.
The visit coincides with a resurgence of the insurgency in Malala’s native Swat Valley, which was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban between 2007 and 2009, until the army cracked down on them in a large-scale operation.
On Monday, unknown assailants opened fire on a school van in the Guli Bagh area, killing the bus driver and an 11-year-old student, Mehran Khan an officer from the Swat police control room told EFE.
The incident was the latest in a wave or recent insurgent attacks, which has led to protests in the region.
“Around 15,000 people have gathered at Nishat Chawk in Mingora today to protest against the incident and militancy,” Khan said.
All private schools in the region, including the one where Malala used to study, were closed on Tuesday in protest against the attack. EFE
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