Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai returned to her native Pakistan on Thursday, six years after she was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen for advocating greater education of girls.
Pakistani station Geo TV showed footage of Yousafzai at Islamabad’s international airport walking to a car escorted by a security convoy.
Yousafzai is due to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in a ceremony at his office but was unlikely to travel to her home region of Swat due to security concerns, local media reported.
On March 23 on Twitter, Yousafzai expressed a longing for her homeland.
She now lives in Great Britain.
“On this day, I cherish fond memories of home, of playing cricket on rooftops and singing the national anthem in school. Happy Pakistan Day!” she wrote.
After surviving the attack, Yousafzai was airlifted abroad and underwent surgery.
The Pakistani Taliban, who seized control of her hometown in Pakistan’s Swat Valley before being pushed out by the army in 2009, later claimed the attack in response to her blog for the BBC Urdu service advocating girls’ education.
The hardline Islamist movement blew up girls’ schools and imposed a strict interpretation of sharia law during their rule over Swat.
During her trip to Pakistan, which is expected to last several days, Yousafzai is expected to stay in Islamabad and meet friends and family at a hotel in the capital, Geo reported.
She is frequently attacked by conservative Pakistanis as portraying her country in a bad light and seeking her own fame.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygu0hsLqTy0]
