BIRMINGHAM — The father of a Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the the Taliban for advocating girls' education said Friday his daughter was strong and would “rise again” to pursue her dreams after receiving treatment in a British hospital. Malala Yousufzai, 15, was flown from Pakistan to the British city of Birmingham to receive specialist treatment after the Oct. 9 attack which drew widespread international condemnation. She has become a powerful symbol of resistance to the radical Islamist group's effort to deny women an education. The father Ziauddin Yousufzai and other family members arrived in Britain Thursday to help her recovery. “They wanted to kill her. But she fell temporarily. She will rise again. She will stand again,” he told reporters, his voice breaking with emotion. Malala has become a powerful symbol of resistance to the Taliban's efforts to deny women education. Public fury in Pakistan over her shooting has put pressure on the military to mount an offensive against the radical Islamist group. “When she fell, Pakistan stood ... this is a turning point,” her father said. “(In) Pakistan for the first time ... all political parties, the government, the children, the elders, they were crying and praying to God.” “It's a miracle for us ... She was in a very bad condition,” he told reporters, sitting alongside his son. “She is improving with encouraging speed,” the father added. Yousufzai began standing up to the Pakistani Taliban when she was 11, when the Islamabad government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley where she lives to the militants. She has been in critical condition since gunmen shot her in the head and neck as she left school in Swat, northwest of Islamabad. British doctors say she has every chance of making a good recovery at the special hospital unit, expert in dealing with complex trauma cases. It has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan. Her father said he and his family cried when they were finally reunited with Malala Thursday. “We are very happy… I pray for her,” he said. — Reuters
