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Malala's first visit to native Swat in pictures

Malala's first visit to native Swat in pictures
AFP
March 31, 2018

MINGORA: Malala Yousafzai visited the Swat valley Saturday for her first trip back to the once militant-infested region where she was shot in the head by the Taliban more than five years ago.

"I left Swat with my eyes closed and now I am back with my eyes open," she told AFP, referring to how she was airlifted out in a coma after the attack in 2012.

"I am extremely delighted. My dream has come true. Peace has returned to Swat because of the invaluable sacrifices rendered by my brothers and sisters," she said at a school outside Mingora, the district´s main town.

The brief trip by the 20-year-old Nobel laureate is a highly symbolic moment for Pakistan, which regularly touts Swat as a success story in its long battle with extremism as it defends itself against accusations by the US and others that its northwest remains a safe haven for militancy.

Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai (2R), chats with the principal of all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, as her mother Torpekai (3R) looks on upon her arrival during her hometown visit, some 15 kilometres outside of Mingora, on March 31, 2018.-AFP

The visit -- on which she was accompanied by her father, mother, and two brothers -- was kept tightly under wraps.

After flying by a helicopter from Islamabad, she met with friends and family before visiting the all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, a military-run school some 15 kilometres (nine miles) outside Mingora.

There she lingered some 45 minutes, taking photographs, before travelling back to Islamabad. The entire visit is believed to have lasted just over two hours.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai (2R), poses for a photograph along with her father Ziauddin Yousafzai (R), mother Torpekai (2L) and brother Atal Yousafzai (L) at the all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, during her hometown visit, some 15 kilometres outside of Mingora, on March 31, 2018. 

Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai (2R), chats with the principal of all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, as her mother Torpekai (3R) looks on upon her arrival during her hometown visit, some 15 kilometres outside of Mingora, on March 31, 2018.-AFP
Books used by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai are seen at shelf inside her room where her belongings are stored in her hometown of Mingora in Swat Valley, Pakistan March 31, 2018. -REUTERS

Malala comes out from an helicopter upon her arrival at the all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, during her hometown visit, some 15 kilometres outside of Mingora, on March 31, 2018.-AFP