In 2012, a teenaged Malala Yousafzai was shot by a Pakistani Taliban gunman and left for dead. Irked by her campaign for female education, the terror group had taken action, shooting her and two other girls. Shot in the head, Malala remained in a critical condition for quite some time.
And as the world outraged on her behalf and the 15-year-old fought for her life, the Taliban released a statement saying that they would target Malala again if she survived. According to a letter from a senior member of the terror outfit who was later imprisoned, Yousafzai had been targeted, not because of her efforts to boost promote education in the Swat Valley in northeastern Pakistan. Rather, Adnan Rasheed contends, it was because the Taliban believed she was running a "smearing campaign" against it.
And as Yousafzai rose to prominence, even becoming the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her education advocacy in 2014, it is likely that the Taliban's view of her did not improve. Now, there has been a fresh threat made against her by a member of the group, via Twitter no less.
Rather chillingly the tweet seemed to be from her alleged shooter, Ehsanullah Ehsan. Next time, he said, "there would be no mistake". Yousafzai was quick to respond, calling out the handle and wondering how the terrorist had managed to escape from government custody in Pakistan.
"This is the ex-spokesperson of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan who claims responsibility for the attack on me and many innocent people. He is now threatening people on social media. How did he escape?" she asked, tagging the Pakistan military and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
While Twitter has acted swiftly, suspending the account in question, this might not be enough of a deterrent. According to reports, after his escape in January 2020, the terrorist has repeatedly communicated with Pakistani journalists via social media. Multiple Twitter accounts believed to be associated with him have so far been suspended.