TTP labels Malala as 'an American spy'

KARACHI: The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Tuesday defended the attack on Malala Yousafzai, rejecting that she was an innocent girl and labeling her as a US spy.

The central spokesman of TTP, Ahsanullah Ahsan, in a detailed statement issued to the media said Malala's date of birth is July 1997 which makes her 15 years four months old today. "Even if no sign of maturity becomes noticeable, this age of the girl marks the end of pre-maturity phase."

The statement said: "In Islam and Pakhtun traditions there is absolutely no room for an attack on a woman of pure virtues. But in cases where a woman is seen as a clear sinner who stands in defiance of Shariah, such a woman is not only allowed to be attacked but there is an obligatory instruction for such an action."

The TTP spokesman said, Malala Yousafzai was 'a spy who divulged secrets of Mujahidden and Taliban through BBC and in return received awards and rewards from the Zionists'.

"She not only spied against Mujahideen but also created propaganda against them. The Gul Makai diary is an embodiment of anti-Taliban views," he continued.

"She has received the punishment for her sin."

The spokesman further said that Malala was brought before the media under a pre-planned strategy so that she could pollute the minds of the youth against the Taliban.

"The other reason for the attack on Malala was her activism aimed at sparking a feud within the Islamic society of Pakhtuns."

He clarified that she was not attacked for her pursuit of education. "Had it been for education, then there are scores of girls who go out to school (they would have been attacked too)."

"Taliban executed the attack on an adult girl only after she emerged as a pivotal character in the media war against us," the TTP spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan argued.