Taliban: We still want to kill Malala

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Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against Pakistani militants and promoting education for girls.

By Mushtaq Yusufzai and Carlo Dellaverson, NBC News

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- The Taliban does not regret the murder attempt on 16-year-old education activist Malala Yousafzai last year and will make "all out" efforts to kill her in retaliation for her relationship with the West, a spokesman for the organization in Pakistan told NBC News on Tuesday.

"Everyone should understand that we didn't want to shoot her for promoting female education and thousands of girls are still going to schools as we are not against female education," Shahidullah Shahid said by telephone.

"The reason we decided to kill her was her anti-Islam and anti-Mujadeen campaign on media."

Malala was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen last October for disobeying the Taliban's ban on female education, but survived her injuries and continued to speak out for women's rights in Pakistan.

The Taliban spokesman said that it "will be a pride for the Taliban if she is silenced."

In July, a Taliban commander said he wished the shooting had "never happened," but did not apologize for it.

Malala, who now lives in the UK with her family, told the BBC on Monday: "I'm a campaigner of education, I am a children's rights activist and I'm a women's rights activist ... We know that terrorists are afraid of the power of education."

She is a contender to win the Nobel Peace Prize later this week, and her memoir, "I Am Malala," was published worldwide on Tuesday.

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