A group of Taliban terrorists who attacked Malala Yousafzai, the teenaged Pakistani girl education activist, and her friends in the country’s Swat district in 2012 has been arrested, the Pakistan Army announced .
Since surviving the Taliban assassination attempt, Malala has become a global figure for the struggle of all children to study in school.
The 10-member terrorist group that attacked Malala was called Shura and affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Geo News quoted Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, the director general of Pakistani Army’s media wing ISPR, as saying at a press briefing.
He added that these terrorists who belong to Malakand intended to target 22 other people. They will now be presented in an anti-terrorism court and charged.
Maj.Gen Bajwa also said it was not correct to link the Pakistan Army with the country’s political crisis, and added that the army had presented its stance on support for democracy and the constitution.
US Scholarships
A Congressional panel approved a proposal to increase the number of US scholarships available to women in Pakistan under the Malala Yousafzai Act, media reported .
The legislation named after Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai was voted by the full House of Representatives during consideration of the measure by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington Monday, Dawn online reported.
“I proudly voted for the proposed legislation,” said Congresswoman Grace Meng, a New York Democrat who is also a co-sponsor of the Malala Yousafzai Act.
The legislation seeks to increase the number of college scholarships for economically disadvantaged students from rural areas of Pakistan and aims to award 50 percent of them to females.
“I am extremely pleased to support this important programme and I look forward to the legislation being passed soon by the House,” said Representative Meng.
“Everybody should have the opportunity to pursue a college education free from the fear of discrimination and violence, and this programme will help many students from Pakistan, especially Pakistani women, achieve that critical goal,” she added.
The scholarships are administered by the US Agency for International Development through the Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Programme.