12 Oct 2012

Wounded girl still sedated

6:04 am on 12 October 2012

A Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban is improving after having the bullet removed, but will remain sedated in intensive care for at least another day.

The shooting of Malala Yousafzai, 14, on a school bus on Tuesday has been denounced worldwide.

The government has offered a reward of $US105,000 for the gunmen.

Malala gained international prominence after she started writing a diary for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban, using a pen-name, Gul Makai.

She has been moved from hospital in Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology critical care unit in Rawalpindi.

The Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in 2007 and ordered girls' schools to close.

Schools in the Swat Valley closed on Wednesday in protest at the attack, in which wo other girls were wounded.

One of the medical team treating her said "neurologically she has significantly improved" but that the "coming days... are very critical".

AFP quoted another doctor as saying that she had a 70% chance of survival.