Malala's classmate opens up about horrific Taliban attack
Washington, Nov. 9 (ANI)
A classmate of 15-year-old Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' right to education, has opened up about the horrific attack.
Kainat Riaz, 15, was traveling on the school bus with Malala on October 9 when a Taliban militant open fire on the bus with an intention to kill Malala for speaking up against the Taliban and advocating female education.
"She was hit in the head and lost a lot of blood. We thought she wouldn't survive... We just looked at Malala and cried," the New York Daily News quoted Riaz, as saying.
Further describing the events, Riaz said that the gunman fired off several other shots, hitting another girl and Riaz, who thought her "hand had been blown off".
"It got numb. When I came home, I found out what happened and then went to the hospital," she said.
Riaz returned to school once after the shooting, but stopped going back because she felt unsafe.
"God willing I will definitely go back to school," Riaz said.
Malala is currently recuperating at a hospital in Birmingham, UK. Though the bullet ripped through her skull and jaw before becoming lodged in her shoulder, she is said to be making remarkable progress.
She was able to stand and communicate just weeks after the brutal attack, which quickly sparked international condemnation and criticism of Pakistan's efforts to curb extremism.
"There is no one like Malala. She was a different kind of girl," Riaz said.