Pakistani schoolgirl shot by Taliban moved to army HQ hospital

A Pakistani schoolgirl fighting for her life after being shot by the Taliban for campaigning for education rights was transferred on Thursday from a hospital in a province that is a militant haven to a specialist hospital in the army garrison town of Rawalpindi.

Malala Yousufzai, 14, was unconscious in critical condition after gunmen shot her in the head and neck as she left school on Tuesday, but doctors said she had moved her arms and legs slightly the night before.

Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet on Wednesday from Yousufzai who was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls.

Her courage made her a national hero. The shooting has drawn condemnation from world leaders and many Pakistanis.

Yousufzai began standing up to the Pakistani Taliban when she was just 11, when the government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley where she lives to the militants.

Her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, who runs a girls' school, said his daughter had defied threats for years, believing the good work she was doing for her community was her best protection.

She was shot with two other girls on Tuesday as she left school in Swat, northwest of Islamabad. One of the girls is out of danger and the other remains in critical condition.

A Taliban spokesman said Yousufzai was targeted for trying to spread Western culture and that they would try to kill her again if she survived.