Schools shut their doors in protest and Pakistanis across the country held vigils Wednesday to pray for a 14-year-old girl who was shot by a Taliban gunman after daring to advocate education for girls and criticize the militant group.

The shooting of Malala Yousufzai on Tuesday in the town of Mingora in the volatile Swat Valley horrified Pakistanis across the religious, political and ethnic spectrum. Many in the country hoped the attack and the outrage it has sparked will be a turning point in Pakistan's long-running battle against the Taliban, which still enjoys considerable public support for fighting U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Top U.S. officials condemned the attack and offered to help the girl.

A Taliban gunman walked up to a bus taking children home from school and shot Malala in the head and neck. Another girl on the bus was also wounded. Pictures of the vehicle showed bloodstained seats where the girls were sitting.

Malala appeared to be out of immediate danger after doctors operated on her early Wednesday to remove a bullet lodged in her neck. But she remained in intensive care at a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar, and Pakistan's Interior Minister said the next 48 hours would be crucial.

Small rallies and prayer sessions were held for her in Mingora, the eastern city of Lahore, the southern port city of Karachi and the capital of Islamabad. In newspapers, on TV and in social media forums, Pakistanis voiced their disgust with the attack, and expressed their admiration for a girl who spoke out against the Taliban when few dared.

Even the country's top military officer _ a man who rarely makes public statements _ condemned the shooting and visited the Peshawar hospital to check on the teenager.

“In attacking Malala, the terrorist have failed to grasp that she is not only an individual, but an icon of courage and hope who vindicates the great sacrifices that the people of Swat and the nation gave, for wresting the valley from the scourge of terrorism,” Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said in a statement.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said US officials “strongly condemn” the shooting and called it “barbaric” and “cowardly.”

He said U.S. has offered any assistance to Malala, mentioning possible air ambulance transport to a facility suitable for her treatment if it becomes necessary.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised the young Pakistani girl.

“She was attacked and shot by extremists who don't want girls to have an education and don't want girls to speak for themselves, and don't want girls to become leaders,” she said.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack on Malala, calling it a “heinous and cowardly act,” U.N. spokesman Nartin Nesirky said.

Malala is admired across Pakistan for exposing the Taliban's atrocities and advocating girls' education in the face of religious extremism.

At the age of 11, she began writing a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about life under the Taliban in the Swat Valley. After the military ousted the militants in 2009, she began publicly speaking out about the need for girls' education, something the Taliban strongly opposes.

The group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack, vowed to target her again.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said authorities have identified her attackers and know how they got into the valley, but no arrests have been made.

The news that surgeons were able to remove a bullet lodged in Malala's neck was greeted with relief by many. But even with such an outpouring of grief and outrage in Pakistan over the young girl's shooting, it was unclear whether it would indeed trigger a shift in public opinion against the Taliban.

Many in Pakistan view the group as waging a noble fight against U.S. troops that invaded another Muslim country, Afghanistan, and they argue that the Taliban problem within Pakistan will fade once American forces leave. They argue that Taliban attacks against targets in Pakistan aim to punish the government in Islamabad for its alliance with Washington.

“Pakistan society is polarized on who is doing terrorism,” said Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a political analyst in Lahore. He said that divide has been evident even in the public condemnations of the attack, with some people speaking out strongly against the Taliban while others have criticized the government for failing to protect Malala.

Omar R. Quraishi, the editorial pages editor at Pakistan's English-language Express Tribune newspaper, questioned whether the public outrage had reached such a critical mass that it would indeed mark a turning point.

He said Kayani's strong statement in support of the girl may be an attempt to gauge whether there is enough public outrage to support a sharp response from the army against the Taliban. The general, said Quraishi, doesn't want to be in a position where people are asking: “Why are you fighting America's wars?”

The Pakistani military has been waging a deadly fight in the tribal regions against militants at a cost of about 4,000 soldiers killed. But critics, especially in the U.S., accuse the army of going after militants that attack the Pakistani state while cultivating others that it feels will be useful someday in Afghanistan.
Still, there is a precedent in Pakistan of Taliban excesses provoking public outrage, which the military has then capitalized on to move against the militants.

In 2009, after a video surfaced of militants publicly whipping a woman, purportedly in the Swat Valley, triggered a wave of public revulsion, the army felt empowered enough to launch a major offensive against the Taliban in the area. Government forces flushed the militants out of the scenic valley, but failed to capture or kill the movement's senior leaders. (AP)

<관련 한글 기사>

14세 소녀운동가 피격에 국제사회 격분!

파키스탄의 14세 소녀가 하굣길에 탈레반의 총격으로 중태에 빠지자 파키스탄뿐만 아니라 국제사회에서 비난의 목소리가 쏟아졌다.

여자들도 교육을 받아야 한다며 탈레반에 맞서온 10대 인권 운동가 마랄라 유사 프자이는 지난 8일(현지시간) 탈레반의 거점인 북부 스와트밸리의 밍고라에서 하굣길에 괴한 2명으로부터 총격을 받았다. 사건 직후 탈레반은 자신들의 소행이라고 주 장했다.

10일 파키스탄의 수도 이슬라마바드와 카라치, 페샤와르와 물탄, 라호르 등 일부 도시에서는 탈레반에 항의하는 시위가 벌어졌다.

일부 학교는 항의의 표시로 휴교했으며, 소녀의 쾌유를 비는 기도회도 곳곳에서 열렸다.

파키스탄 관리들은 범인 체포에 결정적인 단서를 제공하는 사람에게는 1천만 루 피(10만5천 달러)를 제공하겠다고 밝혔다.

파키스탄 언론과 소셜미디어에서도 탈레반을 비난하는 칼럼과 글들이 줄을 이었다.

아시파크 파르베즈 카야니 파키스탄 육군참모 총장은 성명을 내고  "테러리스트 들은 그녀가 단지 한 개인이 아니라 용기의 아이콘이었다는 사실을 알지 못했다"고 비난했다.

가레만 말리크 내무장관은 유사프자이의 병실을 찾아가 위문한 뒤 이번 공격을 감행한 탈레반의 신원을 확인했으며, 그들을 붙잡아 처벌할 것이라고 강조했다.

머리에 총상을 입은 유사프자이는 페샤와르의 한 병원에서 수술을 받았으나 아직 의식을 회복하지는 못했다. 탈레반이 쏜 총알은 두개골을 관통해 그녀의 어깨에 박혔다.

의사와 가족들은 총알 제거 수술을 했으나, 앞으로 48시간이 고비라고 전했다.

BBC는 당시 그녀의 친구 2명도 총격을 받았으며, 이 중 1명은 중태라고 보도했다.

국제사회에서도 탈레반의 잔혹함을 규탄하는 목소리가 이어졌다.

힐러리 클린턴 미 국무장관은 이날 유사프자이의 용기를 치하한 뒤 "이번 공격은 여성들이 교육을 받고, 제 목소리를 내고, 지도자가 되는 것을 원치 않은 극단주 의자들이 저질렀다"고 비난했다.

버락 오바마 대통령도 이번 총격을 비극적이고 야만적이라고 여기고 있다고 제이 카니 백악관 대변인이 밝혔다.

카니 대변인은 필요하다면 유사프자이가 미국에서 치료를 받을 수 있도록 미군이 환자 수송기를 제공하기로 동의했다고 덧붙였다.

반기문 유엔 사무총장도 이번 공격을 극악무도하고 비겁한 행동이라고 강도 높게 비난했으며, 캐서린 애쉬튼 유럽연합(EU) 외교•안보 고위대표도 "절대 용납할 수 없는 행동"이라고 규탄했다.

유사프자이는 11세 때인 2009년 탈레반이 장악한 스와트밸리에서 살면서 BBC방송 블로그를 통해 탈레반 세력을 비판하고 여성도 교육받을 권리가 있음을 주장하는 등의 글을 써 세계적으로 이름이 알려졌다.

지난해 파키스탄 정부로부터 평화상을 받았으며 국제인권단체 아동권리재단의 국제어린이평화상 후보로 선정되기도 했다.

탈레반은 2009년 파키스탄군의 소탕작전으로 스와트밸리에서 쫓겨났으나 그녀의 가족들은 탈레반이 지속적으로 살해위협을 가했었다고 전했다