A survivor of Taliban attack, Malala Yousafzai pleads for ceasefire in Afghanistan

Record ID: 1632235

  • Title: A survivor of Taliban attack, Malala Yousafzai pleads for ceasefire in Afghanistan
  • Date: 15th August 2021
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF VAN AFTER ATTACK / BLOODSTAINS
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2021 14:35
  • Keywords: Afghanistan Kabul Malala Yousafzai Taliban humanitarian aid
  • Location: INTERNET / VARIOUS
  • City: INTERNET / VARIOUS
  • Country: Various
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
  • Reuters ID: LVA004EQE4GUF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, pleaded with world leaders and regional powers to work for a ceasefire and provide humanitarian aid in Afghanistan on Sunday (August 15).
    "I am deeply worried about women, minorities, and human rights advocates," Yousafzai said on Twitter.
    "Global, regional and local powers must call for an immediate ceasefire, provide urgent humanitarian aid and protect refugees and civilians."
    Yousafzai, now 22, survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 after she was targeted for her campaign against efforts by the Taliban to deny women education.
    She had become known as an 11-year-old writing a blog under a pen name for the BBC about living under the rule of the Pakistani Taliban. A gunman arrived at her school, asking for her by name. He opened fire on her and two classmates on a bus.
    She was airlifted to a hospital first in Pakistan and then to an intensive care unit in England for multiple operations. After recovering, Yousafzai attended school in England, before winning the place at Oxford.
    At the age of 17, in 2014, Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her education advocacy. Through her Malala Fund, she has also become a global symbol of the resilience of women in the face of repression.
    Taliban insurgents said they expected to take the power of Kabul within days, promising to moderate their earlier hardline Islamist rule even as foreign diplomats and many locals tried to leave.
    Known during their past rule for keeping girls out of school and their hardline practice of Islamic law, including punishments of amputation, stoning, and hanging, the Taliban appear to be trying to project a more modern face.
    The ease of the Taliban's advance, despite billions of dollars spent by the United States and others to build up local Afghan government forces, has stunned the world.
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