A Pakistani Taliban militant who allegedly shot Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has threatened a second attempt on her life, saying in a tweet that next time “there would be no mistake.”
ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani Taliban militant who nine years ago was allegedly shot and badly injured Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has threatened a second attempt on her life, tweeting that next time “there would be no mistake.” On Wednesday, Twitter permanently suspended the account with the threatening post.
The threat prompted Yousafzai to tweet, asking the Pakistani army and Prime Minister Imran Khan to explain how his alleged shooter, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had escaped government custody.
Ehsan was arrested in 2017, but escaped in January 2020 from a so-called safe house where he was detained by the Pakistani intelligence agency. The circumstances of his arrest and escape have been shrouded in mystery and controversy.
Since his escape, Ehsan has been interviewed and communicated with Pakistani journalists via the same Twitter account that carried the threat in Urdu. He has had more than one Twitter account, all suspended.
The government is investigating the threat and had immediately asked Twitter to close the account, said Raoof Hasan, an adviser to the prime minister.
Ehsan, a longtime member of the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, as they are known, urged Yousafzai to “come home because we have a score to settle with you and your father.” The tweet added that “this time there will be no mistake.”
Yousafzai, who has set up a fund that promotes education for girls around the world and even funded a girls ’school at his home in the Swat Valley, summoned the government and the army via tweet of Ehsan.
“This is the former Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman claiming the attack on me and many innocent people. He is now threatening people on social media,” he tweeted. “How did he escape? ? “
Associated Press questions to the military were unanswered.
The charges against Ehsan include a terrible 2014 attack on a Pakistani army’s public school that killed 134 people, mostly children, some as young as five.
He also claimed responsibility for the 2012 Yousafzai shooting in the Swat Valley. In the attack, the gunman headed for Yousafzai with a school bus where he was traveling, asked for her name and then fired three bullets. At the time, she was only 15 years old and had infuriated the Taliban with her education campaign for girls.
His father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, a teacher, ran a school in Swat Valley for boys and girls. In 2007, when the Pakistani Taliban took control of the area, they forced the girls out of schools and ruled with a brutal hand until 2009, when they were expelled by the Pakistani military.
During his years in military custody, Ehsan was never charged. Later, authorities also never explained how he left the country and traveled to Turkey, where he is believed to currently live.
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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.