--- description: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan nearly six years after she was shot by the Taliban title: Malala Yousafzai Returns to Pakistan 6 Years After Attack image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc7b5534a8971929/69892c4b22fb856e2de2533c/gettyimages-508307750.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Pakistan](/tag/pakistan/) ## Pakistan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Malala Yousafzai Returns to Pakistan Six Years After Being Shot by the Taliban by [Laignee Barron](/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 29, 2018 3:59 AM CUT  Activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai in London, England on Feb. 4, 2016. Activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai in London, England on Feb. 4, 2016.Dan Kitwood—Getty Images by [Laignee Barron](/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 29, 2018 3:59 AM CUT Nobel Peace Prize laureate and girls’ education advocate Malala Yousafzai has [returned to Pakistan](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/28/asia/malala-returns-pakistan/index.html "undefined") nearly six years after she was shot in the head by the Taliban. The 20-year-old activist arrived Thursday at Benazir Bhutto International Airport and is expected to meet with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while she is in Islamabad, CNN reports. Security in the capital has reportedly been tightened for her visit. This is Yousafzai’s first trip back since 2012, when masked gunmen stopped her school bus and shot her. The [assassination attempt](http://world.time.com/2012/10/09/malala-yousafzai-the-latest-victim-in-pakistans-war-on-children/ "undefined") was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban in retaliation for Yousafzai’s vocal support for girls’ education. A spokesman for the militants said Yousafzai, then just 15, was targeted because “she was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban, and she was calling President Obama her idol.” At the age of 11, Yousafzai began writing for the BBC Urdu service about life under strict Taliban rule and the importance of girls’ schooling. After surviving the attack, Yousafzai was put in a medically induced coma and airlifted to Britain for surgery. **Read more:** [_Girls Can Change the World—But We Have to Invest in Them First_](http://time.com/5087352/malala-yousafzai-girls-can-change-the-world/ "undefined") The world’s youngest Nobel laureate continued championing girls’ rights to education, and started the Malala Fund, which supports secondary education initiatives for girls in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria, as well as in countries hosting Syrian refugees. Yousafzai is continuing her own education [studying](http://time.com/4904192/malala-oxford-university-alevels/ "undefined") Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5219928/malala-yousafzai-returns-to-pakistan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5219928/malala-yousafzai-returns-to-pakistan/"},"headline":"Malala Yousafzai Returns to Pakistan Six Years After Being Shot by the Taliban","datePublished":"2018-03-29T03:59:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:48:34.732Z","description":"This is Yousafzai's first trip back since a 2012 assassination attempt","url":"https://time.com/5219928/malala-yousafzai-returns-to-pakistan/","keywords":["Pakistan","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc7b5534a8971929/69892c4b22fb856e2de2533c/gettyimages-508307750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laignee Barron","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc7b5534a8971929/69892c4b22fb856e2de2533c/gettyimages-508307750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Supporting Syria And The Region London 2016 Conference","caption":"Supporting Syria And The Region London 2016 Conference","creditText":"Dan Kitwood—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/pakistan/","name":"Pakistan"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5219928/malala-yousafzai-returns-to-pakistan/","name":"Malala Yousafzai Returns to Pakistan Six Years After Being Shot by the Taliban"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"We Have to Support These People.' 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