Pak police detain family of ‘Malala shooter’

DECLAN WALSH

Pakistani security forces have detained the family of a man accused of attacking Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who became an icon of resistance against Taliban oppression and who is now being treated at a British hospital, neighbours of the man's family said on Thursday.

The authorities in the Swat Valley, where the attack happened on October 9, said they were still searching for the man who shot 14-year-old Malala and wounded two other girls on a school bus. The suspect has been identified as a member of the Pakistani Taliban named Attaullah, and the authorities are seeking an accomplice as well.

One senior provincial official said Attaullah had been arrested before, on suspicion of militant activity during a military operation in 2009 in Swat, in northwestern Pakistan, but was freed because of a lack of evidence. "Then we got to know that he was back in Swat and was planning some mischief," the official said.

At Attaullah's family home in Sangota, a hillside hamlet four miles from Mingora, the valley's main town, neighbours said that the security forces had detained his brother-in-law, an uncle and a brother.

Malala stable, say doctors

MALALA YOUSUFZAI spent a third "comfortable" night at a UK hospital, with doctors saying Thursday they were "pleased with her progress so far".

THE HOSPITAL would not comment on reports that the girl was moving her limbs, saying doctors had to respect patient confidentiality and would release more information when possible. PTI

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