Doctors satisfied with Malala’s improvement

Doctors treating Malala Yousafzai on Sunday expressed satisfaction over the improvement in the condition of 14-year girl injured by the Taliban. Pakistan’s Ambassador to UAE Jamil Ahmed Khan told a private television network that the UAE was sending an aircraft to evacuate the girl for further treatment abroad. The plane was to fly from UAE at 3am. Earlier in the day, doctors at Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) reviewed Malala’s condition and expressed satisfaction over the improvement. “Malala is making slow and steady progress which is in keeping with expectations as recovery of this type of injury is always slow,” the ISPR said. Doctors were monitoring her condition closely and a detailed medical check up was to be carried out on Sunday evening. The ISPR said Malala was still on ventilator in the intensive care unit (ICU) and a board of doctors was continuously monitoring her condition. A special medical team comprising specialists from abroad, senior specialists from civil set up and senior doctors from the Pakistan Army were keeping vigilance on Malala’s health round the clock, it added.The shooting of Malala Yousafzai has been denounced worldwide and by the Pakistani authorities, who have offered a reward of more than $100,000 for the capture of her attackers.On Saturday she showed signs of improvement by moving her hands and feet, though she was still unconscious and on a ventilator.“Doctors have reviewed Malala’s condition and are satisfied,” military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said on Sunday.He said no decision had yet been made on whether to send Malala abroad for treatment. “We are waiting for the doctors’ decision — we are ready to follow the doctors’ advice,” he said.The cold-blooded murder attempt has sickened the country, where Malala came to prominence with a blog for the BBC highlighting atrocities under the Taliban, who terrorised the Swat valley from 2007 until a 2009 army offensive.Activists say the shooting should be a wake-up call to whose who advocate appeasement with the Taliban. But analysts suspect there will be no significant change in a country that has sponsored radicalism for decades.Thousands of people gathered in Karachi for a rally in support of Malala, organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).MQM leader Altaf Hussain called the attack claimed by the Taliban a shameful and cowardly act.Ahmad Shah, an SHO in Mingora, said nearly 200 people were detained over the shooting, including the bus driver and a school watchman.But most had been released.The shooting has heightened speculation that the army may finally launch a long-rumoured offensive against the Taliban in their stronghold of North Waziristan, on the Afghan border.