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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 2:45 p.m. ET: LONDON -- Malala Yousufzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, has every chance of making a "good recovery," British doctors said on Monday as she 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 a unit at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital that has expertise in dealing with complex trauma cases. The unit 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.
He told reporters Yousufzai, whose shooting has drawn widespread condemnation, had not yet been assessed by British medics but said she would not have been brought to Britain at all if her prognosis was not good.
TV footage showed a patient, believed to be the schoolgirl, being rushed from an ambulance into the hospital surrounded by a large team of medical staff.
She will undergo scans to reveal the extent of her injuries, but Rosser said doctors could not provide any further details without her agreement.
Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet from near the girl's spinal cord during a three-hour operation the day after the attack last week, but she now needs intensive specialist follow-up care. Treatment is likely to include repairing damaged bones in her skull and complex neurological follow-up.
"Injuries to bones in the skull can be treated very successfully by the neurosurgeons and the plastic surgeons, but it is the damage to the blood supply to the brain that will determine long-term disability," said Duncan Bew, consultant trauma surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust in London. Judging the best way forward in such difficult cases requires a wide range of experienced medics working as a team.
"In trauma, it is really the coordinated impact of intensive care that is critical. It's not just about keeping the patient alive but also maximising their rehabilitation potential. With neurological injuries that is paramount," Bew said.
Doctors said youth was on her side since a young brain has more ability to recover from injury than a mature one.
"On the positive side, Malala has passed two major hurdles - the removal of the bullet and the very critical 48-hour window after surgery," said Anders Cohen, head of neurosurgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Yousufzai would receive specialized care in a hospital in the country’s National Health Service system.
"Last week's barbaric attack on Malala Yousufzai and her school friends shocked Pakistan and the world. Malala's bravery in standing up for the right of all young girls in Pakistan to an education is an example to us all,” Hague said in a statement.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital is the main receiving facility for British soldiers wounded in Afghanistan, and the spokeswoman said the staff were confident they would be able to provide Yousufzai with the necessary care.
Read more on this story at ITV News
Earlier, a medical team from the United Arab Emirates decided that Yousufzai would require prolonged care to recover fully from the physical and psychological trauma, a Pakistani military statement said before she left for Britain. The panel of doctors recommended she receive treatment abroad, the statement said.
Yousufzai's family was consulted and their wishes were taken into consideration, according to the military.
Attacked while leaving school
Yousufzai was leaving school in her hometown in the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan on Oct. 9 when she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls.
Yousufzai, a cheerful schoolgirl who had wanted to become a doctor before agreeing to her father's wishes that she strive to be a politician, has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of education.
On Sunday, tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan's largest city in support of Yousufzai.
The demonstration in the southern city of Karachi was by far the largest since Yousufzai and two of her classmates were shot.
Still, most government officials have refrained from publicly criticizing the Taliban by name over the attack, in what critics say is a lack of resolve against extremism.
Opponents of Pakistan's government and military say the shooting is another example of the state's failure to tackle militancy, the biggest threat to the stability of the nuclear-armed South Asian country.
The shooting of Yousufzai was the culmination of years of campaigning that had pitted the young girl against one of Pakistan's most ruthless Taliban commanders, Maulana Fazlullah.
Reuters TV
Fourteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai is transported from a hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Monday.
‘Public revulsion and condemnation’
The attack horrified people inside and outside Pakistan and sparked hope among some that it would prompt the government to intensify its fight against the Taliban and their allies.
“The public revulsion and condemnation of this cowardly attack shows that the people of Pakistan will not be beaten by terrorists. The U.K. stands shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism,” Britain’s Hague said in his statement.
But protests against the shooting have been relatively small until now, usually attracting no more than a few hundred people.
That response pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of people who held violent protests in Pakistan last month against a film produced in the United States that denigrated Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Shakil Adil / AP
Fourteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot by the Taliban on Tuesday for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls.
Fresh Taliban attack
The Taliban struck again on Sunday night, attacking the police outpost near Peshawar with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, according to Reuters. Security officials said at least six policemen were killed, including two who were beheaded.
Seven policemen are still missing and presumed kidnapped. Several police cars and an armored vehicle were torched.
Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com
The Taliban has been blamed for many suicide bombings across Pakistan and have also staged sophisticated, high-profile attacks on the military, one of the biggest in the world.
Pakistan's interior minister said police had dispatched guards to protect journalists who had been threatened by Taliban militants angered by coverage of Yousufzai's case.
The Taliban, based mostly in the unruly ethnic Pashtun tribal areas near the Afghan border, have said they would now try to kill her father, a headmaster of a girls' school in Swat.
Reuters and NBC News' Fakhar Rehman contributed to this report.
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What a bunch of "C O W A R D S" the taliban are. Why doesn't the Pakistani Government just destroy them? They have one of the largest Military in the World, why not use them or are they just like the "Presidents Boys Club" members? All talk and no action unless it's with a hooker. It would be NO problem for the Pakistani's to surround the taliban and destroy them with bombs and RPG's. The trerain is such that cooking them with nukes is not feasible, so, use the good old manual method. And while they're at it, chop off their disgusting heads too. Pig crap has more integrity than the taliban, smells better too.
i can't believe that after all these years we have spent in Afghanistan, we have not managed to eliminate the Taliban. They infiltrated and live, very well in Pakistan, evidently and terrorize the locals. The government has to be looking the other way or they would have managed to snuff them. How can this terror go on ? killing kids and women because they want their education is one of the worst crimes of humanity. No more aid to Pakistan until they eliminate these monsters. They are a disease in any society.
dont any of you get tired of saying the same o'l tired crap over and over and over. where are the free thinkers....not the, its obama....o no, it cant be, its romney, no its obama, nooooo its romney, ok its bush but why not reagan, ok you got me its got to be clinton and the sperm stained dress. really folks, really when in fact it doesnt matter who is in office because the president does not run our country, its the dirty jews....aipac, pnac, bildaberg, nwo, federal reserve, etc....the money changers folks. and while you are all b*tching about these miniscule know nothings, just what the jews want you to be doing, they are taking your freedoms. these slimy zionists work in increment ways, slow to the death. they play mind games with the sheeple by supporting the boogie man and than to only bomb the boogie man. they uproot democracy to install a dictators. we now have and extension of cointelpro(hoover the criminal, kkk member that is plastered all over our justice buildings) called the patriot act, ndaa, mcc(military commissions act). we talk @!$%# about other nations doing the exact same thing we are doing but its ok because its america. we the people have been warned for decades but everyone is to busy with nonsense and now suffering the consequences of being ignorant in which there is no excuse anymore not to be informed due to the abundance of information at a click of a button. we have become a nation of cowards. welcome to jew owned, nazi ran, fascist america. stop eating your oats and revolt.....this will not be televised it will be live!!!
The only way to defeat the taliban is for the people of Pakistan to get fed up with the murders and stand up to them. Not an easy task and there will be more bloodshed but if they want to be free from cowards that shoot 14 year old kids they need to take action. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
Muslims outrage is tempered by their fear of reprisals by the Taliban. These people are not free as long as they live in fear. They got a long way to go. Slavery of the mind and free thought and attacking a girl is cowardly and tragic.
DaveF-3558079 These people are not free as long as they live in fear
isnt that whats happening in the great usa?
Isn't it ironic that a western country has to once again swoop in and offer help to an Islamic based country to save yet another child and her classmates from the evil bestowed on it's citizens in the name of Allah. Maybe it's because the western world believes whole-heartedly in educating all especially the ones who desire to learn. This way they will be allowed to think for themselves instead of blindly following the orders of a psychopathic imam on a bloody death march to kill or destroy everything that is growing and maturing out of his control. Best wishes to Malala and her classmates may it be the turning point on the war against terror and the Taliban. It's a shame the Taliban followers aren't allowed to question the orders put forth to kill and destroy or they will be killed instead. This is not the path for any country but it can only be terminated from within. The whole world would love to see the Taliban exterminated. We have the Pakistan government to thank for protecting them, how else would they continue to get millions of dollars from the western world. Eventually enough people will be destroyed and they will realize no money in the world will be enough to protect a group bound to kill and destroy the world’s future.
Best wishes to Malala and her classmates.
Hopefully Swat Valley residents will stand up against the Taliban now.
This child's star burns brighter than all of the hate that lives within the taliban which is full simple minded followers who kill and maim without shame. One brave girl can show the world just how pathetic the world of the taliban is and how they fear women and education. This act shows us that the taliban standard is no higher than the dirt we stand on.
4. May you get what you deserve.
And may Malala get what she deserves too.
Just call these "taliban" what they really are: spineless cowards that pick on schoolgirls & unarmed civilians. They are terrorists, plain and simple. Once identified, they should be shot on sight. They only keep their captured "enemies" alive so as to rub the noses of the victims of their terrorism. They claim to honor "allah" with their misdeeds...send them to meet him at the earliest opportinity. These are precisely the vermin the world doesn't need.
WOW what a religion. One that kills little girls. I just wish these stoneage people would come out and fight instead of hiding behind their women skirts. or veils
sounds like christianity....you know the religion that is spawned from the talmoud, tora only to be revised and tweaked and revised some more, as told by man now, to fit "you".
A favorite myth of Dems is to perpetuate an imaginary war on women by Repubs, birth control is a right, abortion is a woman's choice, etc. The Taliban and other Muslim sects are waging an actual war on women.
Let me put a hypothetical scenerio before you: I am a religious woman with my own business. Contraception and abortion are against my beliefs. As such, I do not wish to pay for these services as part of the health insurance plan I provide my employees. You work for me and participate in the health plan, but want coverage for birth control.
As women, which of our rights are being violated? Are you being attacked because I don't want to pay for contraception? Am I being attacked by being forced to go against my beliefs? You can always go work for someone else, I have no choice but to follow the government rules.
Some women seem to draw a straight line from birth control to Taliban oppression. They would be wise to remember that under Taliban-like rule they would never be allowed to have, let alone express an opinion.
Let's not stop there - there is a company in MI that the owner has decided that all employees will not smoke, will work out and eat a healthy diet, both at work and at home. Of course, this irritated a lot of people, especially the smokers and the overweight employees. His sand box so either you play by his rules or leave. Period. It got dicey when he was trying to extend his policy to the private, non-working hours of the employees. Back to sjacobs - private company: the owner decides no coverage for contraception nor abortion. So be it - it's your sand box. So long as the employees are informed, they can decide to accept your plan and seek out other sources for birth control and if need be, abortion. Pretty simple.
A second thought - as the services I mentioned pretty much falls on the women's responsibility, what's in it for the guys? This is why there seems to be an apparent war on women here.
MplsMinn,
Tobacco and obesity are a different issue. Both are voluntary acts by the employee. If an employer should have the right to charge employess the cost difference for their lifestyle choices. It is unfair to require non-smoking employees to subsize the smokers. Unfortunately, employers are not allowed to charge employees based on consumption of health services, thus low consuption employees subsidize high consumption employees.
The point is whose rights are paramount. The business owner or the employee. The employee at least has the option to work somewhere else.
Just wondering why the location of the girl is being told since her life was already targeted and she was shot. Is she going to be safe at this new hospital location. I really hope our world gets better in the near future for our children and grandchildren. Right now its a mess and with Obama out I feel its only got to get better. I hope he is out this Nov.
If you are an American and you realize that there is true evil in the world, you become a Republican voter. Only Democrats are surprised that this happened. Conservatives have known of this horrible treatment of females in the middle east.
May this young girl make a complete recovery.
complete ignorance going to the box on 6 november.
Nicole - really?
Yeah, really. We have a president who is disabling our nuclear weapons and our missile defense systems. We have those for a reason....to prevent evil from attacking us. Evil like the people who shot this girl. If you realize they can come for us, there is no way you are voting for Obama.
I'm sure they moved her out of the country to protect her from becoming a martyr--the Taliban would have killed her still if given half the chance to make a point. Good move and now she has a chance at life whereas in Pakistan she would have lived on with a big Target on her forehead.
Wow, what a bunch of bad asses most of you are. A collective call to bomb a couple of sovereign nations into the stone-age. Do you think that those bombs are selective, kill only Taliban .
You talk so tough, that this pres is weak and apologises to these countries, that the only thing that they respect is strength.
Where were most of you when a call to arms went out? How many of you yellow bellied cowards out your money where your mouths are? Most of you turned tail and ran. You did and continue to do just what you accuse this pres. of doing.
This girl, and here she is a girl, should not have been touched. Should not have been. In no country and yet I read every day of little girls WHO have been abduct, sexually molested and the killed. You cowards say nothing.
I hear, every day about little girls who in this country are put into brothels which a lot of you coward go to. I read every day where in this country Republican s say that if a women is raped and gets pregnant, why she liked it, you cowards say she wanted it and you walk away bragging about all the babies you have made with these little girls and call others animals. Look in the mirror at a real animal.
It ios so easy to blame some one you do not know, never met and the log on to you kidde porn site and site your first ammendment rights.
God has a special place in HELL for you.
Most people in Islamic nations just want to live in peace, to be left alone and not to constantly look up to look for US bombers abnd drones.
If you coward and sissies met most of these people on and equal footing, hand to hand they would send you sfties to meet your maker.
If you mean what you say here, sign up, put a uniform on, grow up, but you coward would rather hide in drug induced state and bad mouth those who just want to be left alone.
A seventy six year old vet. I went when will you?
Its says a lot about someone who can't see the hypocrisy of yelling "voilent people should be shot".
I wish quick, full recovery to brave Miss Malala. She shouldn't send back to Pakistan again, never.....
Many of you refer to the "Douche-Bag" as a person of disgust. Please get your facts straight. The "Bag" part of the Douche is the "CLEAN" part of the system. It holds the cleaning solution which is generally a disinfectant and some fragrance. The tube and fluid release valve and the nozzle complete the system. All of this is for making a woman clean. No part of the system is concidered dirty. The "Dirty" part is generally dropped in the toilet or flushed down the drain of the bath-tub. If you want to slam someone, call them a toilet bowl or "Douche fluid residue", but by referring to them as the "Bag" you are giving them a compliment. You are calling them clean and refreshing. Don't be a pan-day-hoe.
There's something appropriate here, that it's the British helping Malala. A couple of centuries ago India was plagued by the murderous Thuggees. The Thugs also had a religious justification for their savagery, in their worship of Kali. An outside force had to step in & suppress them, & it was the British.
It looks like an outside force will be necessary to drive the Taliban out of Pakistan. The governement's been heavily infiltrated. It took a world war to drive the Black Hand out of Serbia, & another to drive the fascists out of Italy. Why do you think these schoolgirls were praying for the U.S. or China to save them?
Arrest the men. Give them sentences of not less than 10 years, parole included. Let them return home to find their women have been running things for a decade, & had to learn how to read & write to do it. The new bosses aren't going to take kindly to reinstating obsolete methods.
Everyone knows you don't let the women take you alive.
It amazes me how people forget what they learned about congress in Social Studies while in High School or Junior High. I did not care for the class myself, but if I can recall, nothing gets done really unless the HOUSE/CONGRESS agrees with the President.
The President I do not believe is the last word regarding laws passed or money handed out. Maybe what people need to be saying is change the HOUSE/CONGRESS. So many people want to blame the President but what about THE HOUSE.
Well like I said I do not recall alot from School because it has been about 20 years, but for me personally, none of the people that are voted in to run our country does a very good job. But when you have to fix those that were in office before that can be hard to do.
As the old saying does, "it takes not time to dig yourself into a hole, but it sure takes a long time to get out of that hole". I just hope for the best, and vote for the "lesser of two evils" which is sad to see things that way but that is how I feel.
Just my two cents, Please don't be rude, I only know what I know.
I'm glad they are finally sending her to a Western hospital; treatment may be better but she is certainly safer. Until the Silent Majority of moderate Muslims stand up and take back their streets, this will continue, regardless if the targets are men, women, 10 or 60.
The Obama bashing continues. First, as promised, he pulls the troops out of Iraq and somewhere in 2014, as it stands now, they will be out of Afghanistan. Now, he's getting flack for leaving these countries in disarray because there is no US presence. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. I'd hate to see what the Mitten would do if he were in the POTUS shoes right now. Say all kinds of rhetoric with nothing specific.
Ghandi had this to say about non-violence "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win." So although it'll almost certainly get her killed, Malala needs to return to Pakistan as soon as she's able. The Moslem world needs a prophet of peace & non-violence, & Malala makes the perfect martyr.
She can be comforted in the knowledge that Ghandi's last step happens every time.
The Taliban's violent actions in this situtation (and others like it) are nothing more than acts to continue to repress, dominate and control people. This is especially true in the case of women, who are effectively considered to be and treated as lesser beings or chattel. The religious suppression of education is an act of cowardice and fear.
Let's hope that we as a people can take what we observe in others countries and continue to apply the lessons of tolerance, gender equality, preservation of education, and separation of Church and State rather than revert to the same type of thought process that motivated this act of violence.
The only ones that can kill radical Islam is Muslims as a whole. You don't like the grip of the radicals or there harsh enforcemant of their twisted interprtation of that religion then get off your rear ends and do something about it. The US kills the bad guys with drones and some good guys by accident and you burn our flags kill our ambassadors and attack our embassies . Well the heck with you. Do it yourself cowards or maybe the execution of more little girls is what your religion is all about.
There are many Taliban here and in the UK as well. I hope that the British authorities will give this courageous young woman adequate protection bearing in mind that a large number of terrorists have surfaced from within the medical professions.
Ill say it: THE TALIBAN IS FULL OF CLOWNS and P*SSY'S!