Brave Pak girl Malala critical, airlifted to Rawalpindi army hospital

Islamabad, Oct 11: Teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, who is still critical after being shot in the head by the Taliban, was on Thursday airlifted to Pakistan's top army hospital in Rawalpindi for better post—surgery care as special prayers were offered across the nation for her quick recovery.Malala, who was in the intensive care unit of a Peshawar hospital where a 3—hour surgery was performed on her yesterday to remove a bullet lodged near her spine, was shifted to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in the garrison city near here on doctors' advice.Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Bajwa said doctors recommended that AFIC had better facilities for post—surgery care.The decision to shift 14—year—old Malala, who along with two of her school friends was attacked by the Taliban on Tuesday in Swat in the country's troubled northwest, to Rawalpindi was made by a panel of Pakistani and British doctors.Doctors have said she is improving though her condition continues to be serious.“Her condition is not yet out of danger despite improvement,” Masood Kausar, Governor of the northwestern Khyber—Pakhtunkhwa province, told reporters.A neurosurgeon from the Peshawar hospital also said that the next 10—15 days are critical for Malala.The provincial Khyber—Pakhtunkhwa government has offered a reward of Rs one crore for information leading to the arrest of Malala's attackers.People from all walks of life held demonstrations and candlelight vigils in Lahore and other cities of Punjab province to condemn the Taliban's cowardly act of attacking Malala, who came to prominence after she spoke out for the rights of girls when the Swat Valley was controlled by the Taliban in 2008.