PAKISTAN: Three arrested for attack on Malala Yousafzai

Pakistani children sit around a picture of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot last Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, as they pray for her recovery during a candlelight vigil in Hyderabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Pervez Masih)

Islamabad, Oct 13 (IANS) Pakistan has arrested three Taliban militants for the attack on teen child rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai.

Three brothers — Irfan, Abdul Haji and Inam — were arrested in Bara Khara area of Nowshera district. They are residents of Mingora, the main city in Swat district.

Weapons and other documents were seized from them, Geo TV reported.

Earlier, four people, including a guard and an accountant of Malala’s school, were taken into custody, and revealed the identity of the attackers.

Fourteen-year-old Malala was shot and grievously injured outside her school in Swat last Tuesday. The attack sparked global condemnation.

President Asif Ali Zardari Friday telephoned her father Zia-ud-Din Yousafzai, and condemned the barbaric act by the Taliban. He expressed grief and shock.

Zardari said Malala symbolized the quest for education by girls from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and that she was a symbol of courage of Pakistani women to challenge and stand against barbarity and oppression.

—Indo-Asian news Service

IANS 2012-10-13 23:02:46