A Pakistani Taliban militant who allegedly shot Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has threatened to carry out a second attempt on her life, saying in a tweet that “there would be no mistake” next time.
ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani Taliban militant who allegedly shot Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai nine years ago and threatened serious injury has threatened to make a second attempt on her life by tweeting that there would be no mistake next time. Twitter will permanently suspend the account with the imminent message on Wednesday.
The threat prompted Yousafzai to tweet herself, asking both the Pakistani military and Prime Minister Imran Khan to explain how her alleged gunman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had escaped from custody.
Ehsan was arrested in 2017 but escaped from a so-called safe house in January 2020 where he was held by Pakistani intelligence. The circumstances of both his arrest and escape are shrouded in mystery and controversy.
Since his escape, Ehsan has been interviewed and communicated with Pakistani journalists through the same Twitter account that carried the threat in Urdu. He has had more than one Twitter account, all of which have been suspended.
The government is investigating the threat and 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 called, urged Yousafzai to “come back home because we have to settle a bill with you and your father.” The tweet added that “this time there will be no mistake.”
Yousafzai, who has set up a fund promoting girls ‘education worldwide and even funded a girls’ school at her home in the Swat Valley, called out the government and military over Ehsan’s tweet.
“This is the ex-Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson who claims the attack on me and many innocent people. He’s now threatening people on social media, “she tweeted.” How did he get away? “
Questions from the Associated Press to the military went unanswered.
The charges against Ehsan include a horrific 2014 attack on a Pakistani military’s public school that killed 134 people, mostly children, some as young as five.
He also claimed responsibility for the 2012 shooting of Yousafzai in Swat Valley. In the attack, the shooter walked to Yousafzai on a school bus in which she was traveling, asked for her by name, and then fired three bullets. At the time, she was only 15 years old and had infuriated the Taliban with her campaign for girls’ education.
Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, a teacher, ran a school in Swat Valley for boys and girls. When the Pakistani Taliban took control of the area in 2007, they forced girls out of school and brutally ruled until 2009, when they were expelled by the Pakistan military.
During his years in military custody, Ehsan was never charged. Authorities also never later explained how he left the country and traveled to Turkey, where he reportedly lives today.
Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.