Malik confers Sitara-e-Shujaat on Malala, $1m on Taliban leader’s head

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has announced $1 million bounty on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who claimed responsibility for the attack on Malala Yousafzai, while declaring to award the teenage education activist with another gallantry award, Sitara-e-Shujaat, on Tuesday. Malik announced the bounty during an interview with CNN, saying: “This assassination plan was made across the border in Afghanistan. Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah had fled to Afghanistan when we took action in Malakand and Swat.”
“At that point in time, we did not exactly know what their objective was, and what kind of action they were going to take, until they had hit Malala. Of course, we have identified one other guy, and a few of his associates have been arrested,” he said, adding that one of the financers of one of the terrorists had been detained. The interior minister announced $1 million bounty on the Taliban leader who claimed that the TTP was responsible for her shooting. “On his head, which is more than, you know, (inaudible) of Pakistani, 100 million apiece, because we want to definitely get him and all our line forces, intelligence agencies are hunting all those who were involved,” he said. “Let me assure that the military leadership and of course, the civil leadership will take action at appropriate time. But at the same time, the actions based on intelligence are continuing. But the good thing what I can tell on behalf of the people of Pakistan, people of Pakistan do not want Taliban. They do not want extremism,” Malik said.