The Pakistani Taliban said on Friday that they were “delighted” as Malala Yousafzai, the teenage education activist they tried to kill, missed out on the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shot Malala in the head on her school bus on October 9 last year for speaking out against them.
After the shooting, she was flown to the UK for specialist care and made a remarkable recovery, going on to become a global ambassador for children’s rights.
Taliban spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid said the 16-year-old had done nothing to deserve the Nobel, which went to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its work to rid the world of chemical arms.
“We are delighted that she didn’t get it. She did nothing big so it’s good that she didn’t get it,” Shahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
“This award should be given to the real Muslims who are struggling for Islam. Malala is against Islam, she is secular,” claimed the Taliban spokesperson.