Malala sent to Britain for treatment
16 Oct 2012 12:16 AM GMT
Teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, who was seriously injured in an assassination attempt by the Taliban last week, was on Monday sent to Britain as she needs prolonged medical care, including the repair of damaged bones of the skull.
The 14-year-old was flown to Britain this morning in an air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates.
She had been in the intensive care unit of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi since Thursday.
The decision to shift her outside Pakistan was made by a board of civil and military doctors that has been supervising Malala’s treatment, a military spokesman said. She is being sent to a British centre that can provide ‘integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury’.
‘It was agreed by the panel of Pakistani doctors and international experts that Malala will require prolonged care to fully recover from the physical and psychological effects of trauma that she has received,’ the spokesman said.
‘It is expected that in due course of time she will need repair [or] replacement of damaged bones of the skull and long-term rehabilitation including intensive neuro rehabilitation,’ he said. The ‘acute phase” of Malala’s recovery was managed in line with international standards and her current condition is ‘optimal,’ he added.
The panel of doctors believed that if Malala was to be transferred abroad, then it ‘should be during this time window whilst her condition was optimal and before any unforeseen complications had set in’, the spokesman said.
Earlier this morning, the air ambulance provided by the royal family of the UAE landed in Rawalpindi and was stationed at the military airbase at Chaklala, located a short distance from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology.
Yesterday, the doctors treating Malala had said she was in a stable condition and making ‘steady and satisfactory progress’.
She was successfully taken off the ventilator for a short while before being reconnected to ‘avoid fatigue’, officials said.
Malala has been on ventilator since she was shifted from Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on Thursday after doctors removed a bullet lodged near her backbone.
She was shot in the head and neck. The military spokesman said the neuro-surgery performed in Peshawar had saved Malala’s life.
The specialised treatment she received at the hospital in Rawalpindi stabilised her condition, he said. The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Malala was targeted for backing Western ideals and a secular government.
SIX POLICEMEN KILLED
Six policemen, including a senior officer, were killed and about a dozen others injured when a large group of Taliban militants stormed a police check post on the outskirts of Peshawar city in northwest Pakistan, officials said on Monday.
Superintendent of Police Khurshid Khan was among the policemen killed when militants targeted the check post at Mattani, a suburb of Peshawar, at about 10 pm last night. The heavily armed militants attacked the posts with rockets and heavy weapons. The exchange of fire continued for nearly an hour, officials said. Eleven injured policemen were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital. The check post and several police vehicles were damaged in the attack. Areas on the outskirts of Peshawar have witnessed a string of bombings and militant attacks over the past few months.
JOURNALISTS GET SECURITY AFTER TALIBAN THREAT
Pakistani media organisations and some leading television anchors were provided security following threat that they would be targeted by Taliban for their coverage of the attempted assassination of a teenage rights activist, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday.
‘Several alerts were received that some anchors and media houses would be targeted,’ Malik said while interacting with journalists in Islamabad this morning.
Additional police had been deployed at the media organisations and plainclothes personnel had been deputed to guard the anchors, he said. Malik did not give details of the media organisations or anchors for security reasons. He said guards had also been posted at the homes of anchors facing threats.
Security agencies had been directed to follow up leads about possible attacks on the media by the Taliban.
Three Taliban operatives based in the tribal belt - Nadeem Abbas, Maulvi Shafi and Abdul Rasheed - were behind the move to target the media.
Abbas was heading the operation, Malik claimed.
Media reports have said the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Hakimullah Mehsud had drawn up plans to target media organisations, particularly TV news channels, and some journalists as it was angered by their coverage of Malala Yousufzai.
The News daily quoted its sources as saying that the Taliban felt the media had become biased against the militants and was giving ‘undue’ coverage to the attack on Malala and portraying them as the ‘worst people on earth’.
Malala was flown to Britain this morning amidst tight security for treatment. She has been on ventilator since doctors removed a bullet lodged near her spine last Wednesday. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Malala was targeted for backing Western ideals and a secular government.
The 14-year-old was flown to Britain this morning in an air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates.
She had been in the intensive care unit of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi since Thursday.
The decision to shift her outside Pakistan was made by a board of civil and military doctors that has been supervising Malala’s treatment, a military spokesman said. She is being sent to a British centre that can provide ‘integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury’.
‘It was agreed by the panel of Pakistani doctors and international experts that Malala will require prolonged care to fully recover from the physical and psychological effects of trauma that she has received,’ the spokesman said.
‘It is expected that in due course of time she will need repair [or] replacement of damaged bones of the skull and long-term rehabilitation including intensive neuro rehabilitation,’ he said. The ‘acute phase” of Malala’s recovery was managed in line with international standards and her current condition is ‘optimal,’ he added.
The panel of doctors believed that if Malala was to be transferred abroad, then it ‘should be during this time window whilst her condition was optimal and before any unforeseen complications had set in’, the spokesman said.
Earlier this morning, the air ambulance provided by the royal family of the UAE landed in Rawalpindi and was stationed at the military airbase at Chaklala, located a short distance from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology.
Yesterday, the doctors treating Malala had said she was in a stable condition and making ‘steady and satisfactory progress’.
She was successfully taken off the ventilator for a short while before being reconnected to ‘avoid fatigue’, officials said.
Malala has been on ventilator since she was shifted from Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on Thursday after doctors removed a bullet lodged near her backbone.
She was shot in the head and neck. The military spokesman said the neuro-surgery performed in Peshawar had saved Malala’s life.
The specialised treatment she received at the hospital in Rawalpindi stabilised her condition, he said. The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Malala was targeted for backing Western ideals and a secular government.
SIX POLICEMEN KILLED
Six policemen, including a senior officer, were killed and about a dozen others injured when a large group of Taliban militants stormed a police check post on the outskirts of Peshawar city in northwest Pakistan, officials said on Monday.
Superintendent of Police Khurshid Khan was among the policemen killed when militants targeted the check post at Mattani, a suburb of Peshawar, at about 10 pm last night. The heavily armed militants attacked the posts with rockets and heavy weapons. The exchange of fire continued for nearly an hour, officials said. Eleven injured policemen were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital. The check post and several police vehicles were damaged in the attack. Areas on the outskirts of Peshawar have witnessed a string of bombings and militant attacks over the past few months.
JOURNALISTS GET SECURITY AFTER TALIBAN THREAT
Pakistani media organisations and some leading television anchors were provided security following threat that they would be targeted by Taliban for their coverage of the attempted assassination of a teenage rights activist, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday.
‘Several alerts were received that some anchors and media houses would be targeted,’ Malik said while interacting with journalists in Islamabad this morning.
Additional police had been deployed at the media organisations and plainclothes personnel had been deputed to guard the anchors, he said. Malik did not give details of the media organisations or anchors for security reasons. He said guards had also been posted at the homes of anchors facing threats.
Security agencies had been directed to follow up leads about possible attacks on the media by the Taliban.
Three Taliban operatives based in the tribal belt - Nadeem Abbas, Maulvi Shafi and Abdul Rasheed - were behind the move to target the media.
Abbas was heading the operation, Malik claimed.
Media reports have said the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Hakimullah Mehsud had drawn up plans to target media organisations, particularly TV news channels, and some journalists as it was angered by their coverage of Malala Yousufzai.
The News daily quoted its sources as saying that the Taliban felt the media had become biased against the militants and was giving ‘undue’ coverage to the attack on Malala and portraying them as the ‘worst people on earth’.
Malala was flown to Britain this morning amidst tight security for treatment. She has been on ventilator since doctors removed a bullet lodged near her spine last Wednesday. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Malala was targeted for backing Western ideals and a secular government.
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