After being shot in the head and neck by Taliban gunmen on Tuesday, 14-year-old Pakistani blogger, Malala Yousafzai, is in critical condition today and will be transferred to a better equipped hospital. "Doctors have decided to shift Malala to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalpindi where medical facilities are better," one doctor told the BBC, while another doctor, Mumtaz Khan, told the AFP Malala had a 70 percent chance of survival. Lt. Col. Junaid Khan, head of neurosurgery at the Peshawar hospital where Yousufzai was first treated, said she's in "critical" condition and is suffering from severe edema—swelling in the body that's due to accumulation of fluid, report CNN's Nasir Habib and Reza Sayah. "Doctors say she needs 48-hours' rest," her uncle was quoted as saying in that CNN report. 

What she also needs is protecting from the Taliban, which has promised to hunt Malala down again if she survives their first attack. "Any female that, by any means, plays a role in the war against mujahideen should be killed," Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan was quoted as saying in Reuters. On the day of the shooting, The Express Tribune reported that the Taliban said they "will target her again if she survives because she was a 'secular-minded lady.'"

There's now a 10-million rupee ($105,000) reward for any information on the Taliban gunmen who shot Malala as she was coming back from school. The Taliban claimed responsibility for Malala's attack on Tuesday, saying that her online diary about girls education for the BBC was an "obscenity" spreading "anti-Taliban" thoughts.Malala has spurred vigils and protests around Pakistan, and has garnered international attention too. Hillary Clinton spoke on Wednesday condemning the attack , UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon did the same, calling the shooting "disgusting and cowardly", and former first lady Laura Bush penned an op-ed for The Washington Post today. "Malala was targeted by the Pakistani Taliban because for the past three years she has spoken out for the rights of all girls to become educated," wrote Bush, adding, "Malala Yousafzai refused to look the other way. We owe it to her courage and sacrifice to do the same."

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at aabadsantos at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Alexander Abad-Santos