Malala makes emotional visit to Swat Valley home in Pak
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, on Saturday was in tears as she returned home in Pakistan's Swat Valley where she survived a near-fatal attack by Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' education.
Malala, 20, reached her ancestral home in Makan Bagh in Mingora on a day-long trip along with her parents and two siblings, amid tight security, sources said.
Pakistan's State Minister for Information Marriiyum Aurangzeb also accompanied the education activist for the visit, during which she met her childhood friends and teachers after more than five years.
"Tears of joy rolled down Malala's eyes during her meeting with them. She was filled with emotions when she visited her home and met with her friends," the sources said.
After her brief stay at home, Malala, who on Thursday set foot in Pakistan for the first time since the 2012 attack, was airlifted to the Swat Cadet College where she is expected to address a ceremony, they said.
She is also expected to inaugurate a girls' school in Shangla district, they added. In an interview to Geo News on Friday Malala had said that she plans to return to Pakistan permanently after her studies.
"My plan is to return to Pakistan as this is my country. I have the same right on the country as any another Pakistani," she said. She had reiterated her joy of being in Pakistan and her mission of providing education to children. "We want to work for the education of children and make it possible that every girl in Pakistan receives a high-level education and she can fulfil her dreams and become a part of society," the Nobel laureate said.
Malala was shot at by a Taliban gunman in December 2012 for her female education campaigning in the Swat Valley in northeastern Pakistan.