Pakistan Court Gives Life Sentences To Men Who Attacked Malala Yousafzai

Men Who Attacked Malala Sentenced To Life In Prison

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan sentenced 10 men to life in prison on Thursday for the 2012 attack on teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, the BBC reported.

Yousafzai was just 15 years old when she was shot in the head while riding her school bus in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley because she angered the Taliban by publicly campaigning for girls' education. The attack, which drew international attention, also wounded two of her school friends.

Authorities said the defendants were all members of the Pakistani Taliban, ITV News reported.

Ataullah Khan, the militant police described as the chief suspect in the shooting, was not among the 10 men convicted on Thursday.

After the attack, Yousafzai was airlifted to the United Kingdom for treatment. Now 17, she is the co-founder of the Malala Fund, an organization that aims to "empower girls through education," and the author of the bestselling memoir, "I Am Malala." Yousafzai has also traveled all over the the world to make speeches and media appearances that promote human rights and encourage universal access to education.

"Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzay has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations. This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on its website. "Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls' rights to education."

Yousafzai is still unable to return to Pakistan, Reuters reported, because of Taliban death threats against her and her family. She now lives in the United Kingdom.

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