PakistanI child activist Malala Yousafzai is recovering in hospital from a bullet wound to her head as government forces vow to track down her attackers.
Gharidah Farooqi, program anchor for Samaa TV in Karachi, told SBS Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government had located the group responsible for the shooting.
“The army is [also] working with the police of the area, in coordination with the government, so that they can locate those culprits,” says Ms Farooqi.
Speaking from the hospital where the 14-year-old is recovering, Mr Malik told press: “They are working on arresting them and they will be soon arrested.”
Malala underwent several hours of surgery at a military hospital in the north-western city of Peshawar, where she was airlifted from the nearby Swat district.
Ms Farooqi said the schoolgirl had injuries to her brain and spine but was expected to make a recovery.
“I talked to her cousin just last night, and she is definitely out of danger. The bullet has been removed out of her body and she has been kept unconscious by the doctors deliberately, because being in an unconscious state she can recover quickly.”
“The next 48 hours will be crucial to her recovery.”
The 14-year-old school girl captured international attention after writing a blog for the BBC three years ago, detailing her determination to attend school despite a Taliban crackdown.
Ms Farooqi said children have become targets across the country and in neighbouring countries as the Taliban struggle to assert power and control across the Middle East.
“Children are soft targets because they cannot immediately do anything to defend themselves.”
Government troops launched a full-scale military operation in 2009, wrestling back control from the Taliban, many of whom fled to the border districts of Afghanistan.
