Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ms Yousafzai, now studying at Oxford University, was targeted on her way to school at 15

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan for the first time since being shot by Taliban militants.

Ms Yousafzai, now aged 20 and a vocal human rights activist, was shot in the head by a gunman for campaigning for female education in 2012.

In an emotional speech at the prime minister's office, she said it had been her dream to return "without any fear".

Details of the surprise trip are being kept secret for security reasons.

Pakistani television broadcast video showing her arriving with her parents at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport under tight security.

"Always it has been my dream that I should go to Pakistan and there, in peace and without any fear, I can move on streets, I can meet people, I can talk to people," Ms Yousafzai said in a televised address from the PM's house in Islamabad.

"And I think that it's my old home again... so it is actually happening, and I am grateful to all of you."

The trip is expected to last four days. Officials from her Malala Fund group are travelling with her, local media report.

Image copyright EPA Image caption A car (L) said to be carrying Ms Yousafzai was photographed at a hotel in Islamabad on Thursday

It has not been confirmed if she will visit her family's home region of Swat in the country's rural north-west - once a militant stronghold - during her visit.

Many on Twitter called for a warm welcome for the activist after news of her overnight homecoming broke.

Why some Pakistanis hate Malala

By Haroon Rashid, BBC Urdu editor, Islamabad

Malala's return would have been unthinkable until a couple of years ago, but security is improving after years of Islamist violence.

Her coming back sends a positive message. These days Pakistan's powerful army is keen to demonstrate that life is returning to normal.

Malala knew the longer she stayed away, the more ammunition her critics would have to target her. Although the majority here support her, many in Pakistan's patriarchal society still question her credentials as a campaigner for girls' education.

Conservative men who target her online hate her for following what they see as a Western agenda of female emancipation.

For them, women getting an education is daunting and dangerous, especially in rural areas, where millions of girls drop out of school and end up doing household work. So Malala is up against a difficult male mindset.

Why was she attacked?

At just 11, Ms Yousafzai began writing an anonymous diary for BBC Urdu about her life under Taliban rule.

She later became a vocal advocate of female education amid militant suppression in Pakistan, and was deliberately attacked on a school bus at the age of 15. Malala's story brought international attention.

The Pakistani Taliban said at the time that they had shot her because she was "pro-West" and "promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas".

Image copyright University Hospitals Birmingham Image caption After initial surgery in Pakistan for her injuries in 2012, she was transferred to the UK for her recovery

The teenager sustained life-threatening injuries in the attack, and had to have part of her skull removed to relieve swelling on her brain.

After receiving emergency treatment at a military hospital in Pakistan, she was transported to the UK for further treatment and to recover in Birmingham, where her family continue to live.

What has she done since?

Since her recovery, Ms Yousafzai has continued to speak up for children's education and rights around the world.

She set up the Malala Fund with her father Ziauddin, with the goal of "working for a world where every girl can learn and lead without fear".

In 2014 she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She and Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi were jointly awarded it for their efforts for children's rights.

She has continued campaigning while pursuing her studies, and is now studying at Oxford University.

Is Pakistan still dangerous?

Despite security efforts in recent years, the Pakistani Taliban has remained active.

They have been blamed for a number of deadly attacks on schools and colleges that have killed hundreds.

Ms Yousafzai repeatedly expressed her wishes to return to Pakistan, describing her hometown of Swat as "paradise on earth" in an interview earlier this month.

"I have received a lot of support in my country," she told US talk-show host David Letterman in a Netflix special.

"There is this lust for change. People want to see change in their country. I am already doing work there but I want my feet to touch that land."

Pakistan is religiously conservative and late last year Ms Yousafzai was trolled online after a picture of her in Oxford wearing Western clothes - jeans and heeled boots - was shared on social media.

In 2015 a Pakistani court jailed two men for life for involvement in the attack on Ms Yousafzai. Eight others were acquitted. The man named as the chief suspect is still on the run, the authorities say.</s>During the visit, Malala Yousafzai also met Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. (AFP)</s>Malala Yousafzai Returns To Pakistan For First Time Since 2012 Attack

Updated at 3:40 a.m. ET

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan for the first time since Taliban militants shot her in 2012 for her advocacy of girls' education.

Malala, who is now 20, was 15 when a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus in northwest Pakistan, singled her out, and shot her in the head. She was transported to the U.K. for treatment, and joined by her family, has lived there since then.

In Pakistan on Thursday, television boradcasts showed Malala and her father arriving in the lounge at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

She left the airport in a convoy of vehicles and armed guards. She is expected to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. She was expected to "attend a special function to mark her achievements as an activist for girls' education," Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports.

She also plans to visit Peshawar during her four-day trip.

A government official was quoted by The Telegraph as saying that her exact itinerary would be "kept secret in view of the sensitivity surrounding the visit."

At the age of 11, Malala began an anonymous blog for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban domination in her home, Swat Valley. Since her recovery, she has continued to advocate publicly for the rights of children.

In 2013, in a speech before the United Nations, she received a standing ovation.

"The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions," she said, "but nothing changed in my life, except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born."

The following year she became the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, sharing the award with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian campaigner against exploitation of children.

Although this marks her first visit to Pakistan since she left more than five years ago, Malala has frequently championed her home country and addressed the people of her homeland in her native Pashto language, and Urdu.

Even so, as NPR's Diaa Hadid reports from Islamabad, "... in Pakistan many don't like her. They accuse her of becoming famous by telling negative stories about her country. Her safety is still in question, too – she arrived in secrecy and is under heavy guard."</s>Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, returned home to Pakistan early Thursday for the first time since she was shot by the Taliban over her campaign against its efforts to deny education to women, her family told NBC News.

Yousafzai, 20, was the target of the attempted assassination in 2012 in her native Swat Valley. She is now a student at Oxford University in England.

Malala Yousafzai at U.N. headquarters in New York last year. Jewel Samad / AFP – Getty Images

“The visit was kept a secret due to security issues,” a relative said on condition of anonymity after Yousafzai was greeted at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad by government and security officials. She was taken to a hotel under high security, the relative said.

Yousafzai will reunite with all of her family in Islamabad during the four-day visit, but she won’t visit Swat because of the concerns for her safety, relatives said. She is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and other government officials later on Thursday.

Yousafzai had already won international acclaim as an advocate for women’s education when she caught the attention of the Taliban, which had gained a stronghold in the Swat Valley. On Oct. 9, 2012, a gunman stormed her school bus in Mingora and shot her in the face at point-blank range to silence her. She was critically wounded but recovered at a hospital in Britain.

Since then, she has become a worldwide symbol of female empowerment, founding the Malala Fund, a charity dedicated to giving all girls access to education, with her father, Ziauddin.

Yousafzai told David Letterman in a recent episode of his Netflix interview series that she had been searching for an opportunity to return to Pakistan.

“I want my feet to touch that land and to be there,” she said.</s>Malala has become a global symbol for human rights and a vocal campaigner for girls' education since 2012. (Photo: File)

Islamabad: Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai returned to Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said, in her first visit to her native country since she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for advocating education for girls in 2012.

Precise details of her itinerary have been "kept secret in view of the sensitivity surrounding the visit," a government official said of the trip, which is expected to last four days and include a meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Accompanied by her parents, the 20-year-old Yousafzai was escorted through Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport under tight security, according to still photographs broadcast on local television.

Malala has become a global symbol for human rights and a vocal campaigner for girls' education since a gunman boarded her school bus in the Swat valley on October 9, 2012, asked "Who is Malala?" and shot her.

She was treated for her injuries in the British city of Birmingham, where she completed her schooling. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, she has continued her campaigning while pursuing her studies at Oxford University.</s>Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Thursday said she was excited to be back in Pakistan for the first time since she was shot in 2012 by Taliban militants angered at her championing of education for girls.

Yousafzai said in a brief speech at a ceremony at Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s office that she will continue to campaign for the education of girls and asked Pakistanis to be united on issues like providing better health care and education.

She said she remembered having to leave Pakistan for treatment after she was attacked. Covering her tear-filled eyes with her hands, Yousafzai said it was hard to wait for more than five years to return home.

“It is now actually happening and I am here,” she said.

Abbasi praised Yousafzai for her sacrifices and role in the promotion of girls’ education. He said he was happy to welcome her home, where he said terrorism has been eliminated.

Since her attack and recovery, Yousafzai has led the “Malala Fund,” which she said has invested $6 million in schools and to provide books and uniforms for schoolchildren.

“For the betterment of Pakistan, it is necessary to educate girls and empower women,” she said.

Earlier, tight security greeted the now-20-year-old university student upon her arrival at Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport. Local television showed her with her parents in the lounge at the airport before leaving in a convoy of nearly 15 vehicles, many of them occupied by heavily armed police.

Her return had been shrouded in secrecy and she was not likely to travel to her hometown of Mingora in the Swat valley, where the shooting occurred.

Yousafzai was just 14 years old but already known for her activism when Taliban gunman boarded the school van in which she was sitting and demanded to know “who is Malala?” before shooting her in the head. Two of her classmates were also injured. In critical condition, Yousafzai was flown to the garrison city of Rawalpindi before being airlifted to Birmingham in Britain.

She has since spoken at the United Nations, mesmerizing the world with her eloquence and her unrelenting commitment to the promotion of girls’ education through the Malala Fund, a book, meetings with refugees and other activism.

She was awarded the Nobel in 2014, along with Indian child-rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, and said on the day she collected the prize that “Education is one of the blessings of life, and one of its necessities.”

She remained in Britain after undergoing medical treatment there and was accepted to the University of Oxford last year.

At home in Pakistan, however, she has been condemned by some as a Western mouthpiece with some even suggesting on social media that the shooting was staged. Yousafzai has repeatedly responded to the criticism with a grace far outstripping her years, often saying education is neither Western, nor Eastern.

Often when she has spoken in public she has championed her home country and spoken in her native Pashto language, always promising to return to her home.

On March 23 when Pakistan celebrated Pakistan Day, Yousafzai tweeted, “I cherish fond memories of home, of playing cricket on rooftops and singing the national anthem in school. Happy Pakistan Day!”

Local television channels have been showing her return to Pakistan with some replaying the horror of her shooting and the rush to get her treatment.

Pakistani officials say they captured several suspects after the attack on Yousafzai, but the head of the Taliban in Pakistan, Mullah Fazlullah, was still on the run and believed to be hiding in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Fazlullah’s spokesman, Mohammad Khurasani, earlier this month said Fazlullah’s son was among 21 “holy warriors” killed by missiles fired by a U.S. drone at a seminary in Afghanistan.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>ISLAMABAD (AP) - The Latest on Malala Yousafzai's visit to Pakistan (all times local):

 

2:05 p.m.

 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai says she will continue to campaign for the education of girls in Pakistan.

 

Her comments come after she arrived back in her homeland for the first time since she was shot in 2012 by Taliban militants angered at her championing of girls' education.

 

With tears in her eyes, Yousafzi recalled Thursday having to leave Pakistan for treatment when she was shot.

 

At a ceremony at Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's office, the university student said she had always thought about returning to Pakistan.

 

She says: "It is now actually happening and I am here."

 

Abbasi praised Yousafzai, saying he is happy to welcome her home, where he says terrorism has been eliminated.

 

___

 

1:05 p.m.

 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai says she is excited to be back in Pakistan for the first time since she was shot in 2012 by Taliban militants angered at her championing of education for girls.

 

With tears in her eyes, Yousafzi recalled Thursday having to leave Pakistan for treatment when she was shot.

 

At a ceremony at Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's office, the university student said she had always thought about returning to Pakistan.

 

She says: "It is now actually happening and I am here" and that she will continue to campaign for the education of girls.

 

Abbasi praised Yousafzai, saying he is happy to welcome her home, where he says terrorism has been eliminated.

 

___

 

11:40 a.m.

 

The government says Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, hours after she returned to Pakistan for the first time since she was shot in 2012 by Taliban militants.

 

According to the statement, Youisafzai was received by Abbasi on her arrival at his office in the capital, Islamabad.

 

Pakistan's Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb and senior government officials were also present at the meeting.

 

Yousafzai was taken to Abbasi's office under tight security.

 

___

 

11:15 a.m.

 

Pakistanis are welcoming Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on her return to her homeland for the first time since she was shot in 2012 by Taliban militants.

 

Cricketer-turned opposition leader Imran Khan's party said Thursday that Malala's return was a sign of the defeat of extremism in the country.

 

Mohammad Hassan, one of Yousafzai's cousins in the northwestern town of Mingora, says it is one of the happiest days of his life. He says he is not sure whether Yousafzai will visit her home town.

 

Marvi Memon, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, also welcomed Malala, saying it was a pleasant surprise for her to see Malala back home.

 

___

 

8:20 a.m.

 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan for the first time she was shot in 2012 by militants angered at her championing of education for girls.

 

Tight security greeted the now-20-year-old university student upon her arrival Thursday.

 

Local television showed her with her parents in the lounge at Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto International Airport, and she left in a convoy of nearly 15 vehicles, many of them occupied by heavily armed police.

 

She is to meet with Pakistan's prime minister later in the day.</s>ISLAMABAD — Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai returned to Pakistan early Thursday for the first time since she was shot in 2012 by Taliban militants angered at her championing of education for girls.

Tight security greeted the now-20-year-old university student upon her arrival at Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto International Airport. Local television showed her with her parents in the lounge at the airport before leaving in a convoy of nearly 15 vehicles, many of them occupied by heavily armed police.

Hours after her arrival, Yousafzai met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, according to a government statement. Her return had been shrouded in secrecy and it wasn't immediately clear how long she would be in the city or whether she planned to travel to her hometown of Swat where the shooting occurred.

As news broke about Yousafzai's arrival in Pakistan's, her countrymen welcomed her.

Cricketer turned opposition leader Imran Khan's party said Malala's return was a sign of the defeat of extremism in the country.

Mohammad Hassan, one of Yousafzai's cousins in the northwestern town of Mingora, said it was one of the happiest days of his life. He said he was not sure whether Malala will visit her home town, where schoolchildren were jubilant on her return, though they wished Malala had visited Mingora so that they could greet her.

Javeria Khan, a 12-year-old schoolgirl in Yousafzai's hometown, said she was excited about Malala's return.

"I wish I could see her in Swat. I wish she had come here, but we welcome her," she said, as she sat among schoolchildren.

Marvi Memon, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, also welcomed Yousafzai, saying it was a pleasant surprise for her to see Yousafzai back home.

"What an incredible surprise I woke up to this morning" to know that Malala is back along with her parents, she said. Memon said it was a proud day for Pakistan that Yousafzai was back in Pakistan.

Yousafzai was just 14 years old but already known for her activism when Taliban gunman boarded the school van in which she was sitting and demanded to know "who is Malala?" before shooting her in the head. Two of her classmates were also injured. In critical condition, Yousafzai was flown to the garrison city of Rawalpindi before being airlifted to Birmingham in Britain.

She has since spoken at the United Nations, mesmerizing the world with her eloquence and her unrelenting commitment to the promotion of girls' education through the Malala Fund, a book, meetings with refugees and other activism.

She was awarded the Nobel in 2014, along with Indian child-rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, and said on the day she collected the prize that "Education is one of the blessings of life, and one of its necessities."

She remained in Britain after undergoing medical treatment there and was accepted to the University of Oxford last year.

At home in Pakistan, however, she has been condemned by some as a Western mouthpiece with some even suggesting on social media that the shooting was staged. Yousafzai has repeatedly responded to the criticism with a grace far outstripping her years, often saying education is neither Western, nor Eastern.

Often when she has spoken in public she has championed her home country and spoken in her native Pashto language, always promising to return to her home.

On March 23 when Pakistan celebrated Pakistan Day, Yousafzai tweeted, "I cherish fond memories of home, of playing cricket on rooftops and singing the national anthem in school. Happy Pakistan Day!"

Local television channels have been showing her return to Pakistan with some replaying the horror of her shooting and the rush to get her treatment.

Pakistani officials say they captured several suspects after the attack on Yousafzai, but the head of the Taliban in Pakistan, Mullah Fazlullah, was still on the run and believed to be hiding in neighboring Afghanistan.

Fazlullah's spokesman, Mohammad Khurasani, earlier this month said Fazlullah's son was among 21 "holy warriors" killed by missiles fired by a U.S. drone at a seminary in Afghanistan.</s>ISLAMABAD (AP) — Malala Yousafzai returns to Pakistan for first time she was shot in 2012 by militants for championing girls’ education.</s>Nobel Peace Prize laureate and girls’ education advocate Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan nearly six years after she was shot in the head by the Taliban.

The 20-year-old activist arrived Thursday at Benazir Bhutto International Airport and is expected to meet with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while she is in Islamabad, CNN reports. Security in the capital has reportedly been tightened for her visit.

This is Yousafzai’s first trip back since 2012, when masked gunmen stopped her school bus and shot her.

The assassination attempt was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban in retaliation for Yousafzai’s vocal support for girls’ education. A spokesman for the militants said Yousafzai, then just 15, was targeted because “she was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban, and she was calling President Obama her idol.”

At the age of 11, Yousafzai began writing for the BBC Urdu service about life under strict Taliban rule and the importance of girls’ schooling.

After surviving the attack, Yousafzai was put in a medically induced coma and airlifted to Britain for surgery.

Read more: Girls Can Change the World—But We Have to Invest in Them First

The world’s youngest Nobel laureate continued championing girls’ rights to education, and started the Malala Fund, which supports secondary education initiatives for girls in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria, as well as in countries hosting Syrian refugees.

Yousafzai is continuing her own education studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.
Human rights activist Malala Yousafzai returns to her native Pakistan for the first time since being shot in October 2012 to meet with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.