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| Doctors in Rawalpindi said Malala's progress over the next few days would be critical |
Malala Yousafzai, seriously wounded in Pakistani Taliban attack, is airlifted to Birmingham for specialist treatment.
The Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban last week has arrived in the UK for specialist medical treatment.
The spokesperson said in a statement on Monday that 14-year-old
Malala Yousafzai, whose shooting has drawn condemnation abroad and at
home, will require "prolonged" care to fully recover physically and
psychologically.
She is in a serious condition and is being taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for treatment.
Malala was flown from Pakistan on board an air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates and accompanied by a full medical team.
Malala - who has been campaigning for education for girls - was
attacked last Tuesday as she was returning home from school in Mingora
in northwestern Swat.
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| A Schoolgirl's Odyssey |
"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 army spokesperson in the statement.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Birmingham, said: "The
hospital is a trauma centre. It is one of the biggest in the world
provided by the National Health Service, but the treatment will be paid
for by the United Arab Emirates.
"This hospital specializes in brain injury." Its specialist team has 10 years of experience of treating UK military casualties and Medical Director Dr David Rosser said Malala Yousafzai "could be viewed as a battle casualty", which put doctors there "in a good position to treat her". Security, he added, was taken very seriously "at the best of times". A source in a hospital in the city of Rawalpindi, where she was initially being treated, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that her condition was "critical" and that she had a slim chance of recovering. Global condemnation The shooting of Yousafzai has been denounced worldwide and by the Pakistani authorities, who have offered a reward of more than $100,000 for the capture of her attackers. The attack has angered Pakistan, where Malala won international prominence with a blog that highlighted atrocities under the Taliban who terrorized the Swat Valley from 2007 until a 2009 army offensive. Activists say the shooting should be a wake-up call to those who advocate appeasement with the Taliban, but analysts suspect there will be no seismic shift in a country that has sponsored radical Islam for decades. Local police officials told Al Jazeera that the investigation into who was responsible for the attack was ongoing. The perpetrators were witnessed escaping into a nearby slum. Four people have been arrested in connection to the shooting. They were among about 60 to 70 suspects rounded up in the Swat region this week, but all were subsequently released. |
