CIAliban threaten to kill Malala's father

http://edition.presstv.ir/TextOnly/detail.aspx?id=266420 Taliban threaten to kill Malala's father Sat, 13 Oct 2012 09:16:50 GMT Taliban militants have threatened to kill Malala Yousufzai’s father Ziauddin after an attempt to assassinate the 14-year-old Pakistani human rights campaigner and peace activist failed. Sirajuddin Ahmad, a spokesman for the Swat Taliban militia - a militant group known to work under the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) umbrella and led by Maulana Fazlullah- said on Friday that two assassins from Fazlullah’s special hit squad had been sent to target the young schoolgirl. "“We had no intentions to kill her but were forced when she would not stop (speaking against us),” Ahmad said." He added the Taliban held a meeting a few months ago at which they unanimously agreed to kill her. The task was then given to military commanders to accomplish. “Before the attack, the two fighters personally collected information about Malala’s route to school, timing, the vehicle she used and her security,” Ahmad said. He noted that the gunmen decided to shoot her near a military checkpoint to make the point they could strike anywhere. Now that they had failed to kill Yousufzai, they would target her father, Ahmad stated. Ziauddin Yousufzai, the headmaster of a girls’ school, is on Taliban hit list for speaking against them and encouraging his daughter. “We have a clear-cut stance. Anyone who takes side with the government against us will have to die at our hands. You will see. Other important people will soon become victims,” Ahmad warned. On October 9, TTP gunmen shot Malala Yousufzai, who became a national star for speaking out against the extremists and promoting education for girls and women, in the Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Two other young girls were also injured when the militants attacked Yousufzai’s school bus. In 2008 and 2009, the TTP banned female education in the Swat Valley, depriving more than 40,000 girls of education. TTP militants destroyed hundreds of schools in the valley during a campaign of violence over the course of the two years, which led to a dramatic decline in the number of girls enrolled in schools in the region. In 2009, Yousufzai rose to fame for writing about life in the Swat Valley under the TTP. She later received Pakistan’s National Peace Award for bravery and was also nominated for an international children's peace award.