In the midst of all this, the world's attention turned to girl's rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head for taking on their might.
Malala came to prominence in 2009 when she started writing a diary for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban.
The attack on the 15-year-old Oct 9 triggered worldwide condemnation even as thousands of Pakistanis took to the streets to condemn the attack.
She became a symbol of resistance against the Taliban, with Education Minister Sardar Shah Jejan Yousuf declaring her "a symbol of courage".