07/10/2013 19:00
Taliban says it would again target Malala Yousafzai
The Pakistani Taliban would again target 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, an advocate of education for girls who survived an assassination attempt last year, a spokesman for the militant group told CNN on Monday.
Spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the teenager was targeted because she was used in propaganda against the Taliban.
The Taliban would target her again if given the chance, he said, just as it would target anyone who opposes the group.
He denied she was targeted for promoting education for girls.
Malala was 15 when gunmen jumped onto her school bus in Pakistan's Swat Valley on October 9, 2012, and shot her in the head. She survived and underwent brain surgery in Britain.
She recovered and addressed the United Nations in New York on her 16th birthday, July 12.
"They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," she said. "And then, out of that silence, came thousands of voices."
The Taliban's actions sparked large protests in Pakistan and condemnation worldwide.