ABU DHABI // A specialised medical aircraft will be sent to Pakistan if doctors decide the 14-year-old girl shot by the Taliban requires treatment in the UAE.
Malala Yousufzai and two classmates were shot on a school bus on October 9. Doctors have removed a bullet from her neck and she is on a ventilator in a military hospital.
“The decision to shift Malala will be taken by the doctors, they haven’t taken the decision yet,” said the press counsellor for the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai, Zahida Parveen.
Other countries may also be considered. Doctors have reduced her medication and Malala can move her legs and hands.
The Pakistan military said yesterday that there had been no decision yet to seek treatment outside the country. However, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE, Jamil Ahmed Khan, told Pakistan’s Geo TV that arrangements had been made to treat Malala at three hospitals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
This could not be confirmed by any UAE hospitals contacted.
Malala is an advocate for education and women’s rights who spoke out about the Taliban’s activities in the north-western Swat Valley.
azacharias@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by the Associated Press
