Touchdown: Malala, 14, arrives in UK from Pakistan with her family for life-saving treatment after being shot in the head by Taliban for going to school

The schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for demanding education for women arrived in Britain yesterday for medical treatment and is expected to make a 'good recovery'.
Malala Yousafzai, 14, was flown to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after militants shot her twice in a 'barbaric attack' as she made her way home from lessons.
Last night a spokesman for the specialist hospital – which treats service personnel wounded in Afghanistan – said she was in a  stable condition and had a chance of making a good recovery.

Scroll down for video

Precious cargo: Malala Yousafzai, 14, arrives in Birmingham Airport and is whisked to an ambulance waiting on the runway

In safe hands: Malala Yousafzai, 14, pictured left while at home in Pakistan, is surrounded by a medical team as she is taken off an aircraft, right, and soon heading for treatment for her serious injuries in a nearby hospital

But the Pakistani teenager needs 'prolonged care' to help her recover from the physical and psychological effects of the attack and it seems likely her treatment will take more than six months. It is unclear whether it will ever be safe enough for Malala, whose name means 'grief-stricken', to return home. It is likely she will remain in Britain.
Pakistani security agencies have arrested three brothers of a senior Taliban commander, but the group has vowed to target her again.

They said they attacked her because she was promoting 'Western thinking' and secular beliefs.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday: 'Malala's bravery in standing up for the right of all young girls in Pakistan to an education is an example to us all.'
Malala, the winner of numerous peace prizes, was shot in the head and neck as she was being driven home from school in the Swat Valley in north-west Pakistan.

Arrival: The plane carrying injured 14-year old Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai, arrives at Birmingham airport this afternoon

Malala's convoy leaves Birmingham Airport so she can receive specialist medical care in a Birmingham NHS hospital

The teenager, a passionate advocate of education for girls, became a target after writing an outspoken blog and openly criticising the Taliban regime which controls that area.
Details of Malala's transfer to the UK emerged as 50 clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwa against the attempt on her life, declaring it 'un-Islamic'. The clerics, from the Sunni Ittehad Council, said: 'Islam doesn't prohibit women from getting education. The attackers transgressed the Islamic Hudood [principles].'
Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at the hospital, said: 'We do unfortunately have very extensive experience of dealing with this sort of traumatic bullet-related injury.
'We have had patients here who have been seen by 17 specialities in the first 24 hours and that's part of our unique selling point and why we're in a good position to deal with this sort of thing.'

Health plan: The 14-year-old was taken straight to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where medics will work on reconstructing her shattered body

Police officers patrol outside the emergency entrance of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where injured Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai arrived for treatment in Birmingham

Treatment: Pakistani army doctors and medical staff transport 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was shot last Tuesday by the Taliban, to transfer her from a military hospital to the airport in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Worldwide attention: An air ambulance with Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai aboard taxis at Chaklala Airbase

Assesment: She was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for treatment, which has specialised in the treatment of troops wounded in Afghanistan

Pakistani students sing as they hold pictures of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, during a tribute today at the Pakistani Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Support: Pakistani schoolgirls pray for the recovery of Malala as she makes her way to the UK

Protests: Pakistani human rights activists have marched across the country to condemn the shooting of Malala

'The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism,' said Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Targeted: Malala Yousafzai, 14, spoke out about suffering under the Taliban regime

'Malala's bravery in standing up for the right of all young girls in Pakistan to an education is an example to us all.'

The plane stopped for several hours in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi on the way to the UK, said the Pakistani Ambassador to the UAE Jamil Ahmed Khan.
The ambassador visited Malala during the stop and said she appeared to be in stable condition.
The shooting occurred after a group of militants riding on a bike stopped the bus carrying the schoolgirls.
Masked men then boarded the vehicle and pointed guns at the girls, asking for Malala.
A hooded Taliban militant shouted: 'Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all. She is propagating against the soldiers of Allah, the Taliban. She must be punished.'
Almost as soon as he shouted this, the militant recognised the youngster and shot her at point blank range.
Last week authorities announced they have identified her attacker and offered a 10,000,000 rupee (£119,000) reward for his capture.
On arrival at a military hospital, Pakistani doctors removed a bullet from Malala's body that entered her head and headed toward her spine.

Stable: Malala being transported between hospital wards. The teenage Pakistani children's rights activist was shot in the head on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat

Attempt: A Pakistani Taliban organisation have taken responsibility for the shooting which also injured another girl on the bus leaving their school in Mingora

The military has described her recovery as satisfactory and said she was able to move her legs and hands several days ago when her sedatives were reduced.

FURY AS IMRAN KHAN SAYS TALIBAN ARE FIGHTING 'A HOLY WAR'

Former Pakistan cricketer Imran Khan has provoked Afghanistan's government by saying that the Taliban were fighting a 'holy war.'

Now a politician, Khan visited 14-year old Malala Yousafzai and made the comments after to reporters. 
He said that insurgents in Afghanistan were fighting a 'jihad.'
Citing a verse from the Qur'an, he said: 'It is very clear that whoever is fighting for their freedom is fighting a jihad …
'The people who are fighting in Afghanistan against the foreign occupation are fighting a jihad,' he added, according to a video of remarks to journalists.
The Afghani government were quick to condemn Kahn's comments with a spokesman saying Kahn was 'either profoundly and dangerously ignorant about the reality in Afghanistan or he has ill will against the Afghan people'.
'Our children are killed on a daily basis, civilians killed and our schools hospitals and infrastructure attacked on a daily basis,'
'To call any of that jihad is profoundly wrong and misguided.'
The rise in Islamic militancy in Pakistan was not due to militants themselves, but on U.S. military action, especially CIA drone strikes, according to Khan.

They have not said whether she suffered any brain damage or other permanent damage.
On Monday, the military said damaged bones in Malala's skull will need to be repaired or replaced, and she will need 'intensive neuro rehabilitation.'
The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the shooting because Malala was promoting 'Western thinking.'
But that has not deterred one of the other wounded girls shot by the gunmen from pledging to return to school with Malala one day.
Shazia Ramzan, also 14, who was hit in the shoulder and hand, said: 'She will recover and we will go back to school and study together again.'
The shooting has provoked outrage in the country and tens of thousands of people have since marched in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, in support of her.
The demonstration in the southern city of Karachi was by far the largest since Malala and two of her classmates were shot on October 9 while returning home from school in Pakistan’s northwest.
Protests against the shooting have been relatively small until now, usually attracting no more than a few hundred people.
The political party that organised Sunday’s rally in Karachi, the Muttahida Quami Movement, however called the Taliban gunmen who shot the girl 'beasts' and said the shooting was an attack on 'the ideology of Pakistan'.
Many of the demonstrators carried the young girl’s picture and banners praising her bravery and expressing solidarity.
Last week Madonna strip-teased to 'show her support' for Malala at a Wednesday night performance in the Staples Centre, Los Angeles.
According to Entertainment Today, she told fans that the news that the 14-year-old had been gunned down by the Taliban had made her 'cry'.
She said: 'The 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot on a schoolbus for writing a blog about how important education was to her.

'The Taliban stopped her bus and shot her. Do you understand the sickness and absurdity of this?'

She rallied the crowd by shouting at them to support education and those who help women.

Recovering: A 'stable' Malala Yousafzai, is moved to a helicopter to be taken to Peshawar for treatment

Wounded: Hospital staff assist Malala Yousafzai as she arrives at Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital after the attack in the Swat Valley region in northwest Pakistan

Help: Crowds gathered around the hospital as news quickly spread about the attempted assassination of the young peace activist

But then the millionaire decided that this performance clearly was not a strong enough statement, and chose to 'dedicate' a strip tease to the girl, who is currently in a critical condition.

She turned her back to reveal 'Malala' written across it, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

'This song is for Malala,' she said, before singing her 'Human Nature' song.

But her attempt to make a stand in the name of Malala backfired after furious Pakistanis discovered her act.
Malala earned the enmity of the Taliban for publicising their behaviour when they took over the northwestern Swat Valley, where she lived, and for speaking about the importance of education for girls.

Outrage: Activists carry photographs of Malala Yousafzai during a protest rally against her assassination attempt

Support: Demonstrators in Mingora hold banners reading 'we want peace on our motherland' and 'attack on Malala Yousafzai is an unsuccessful attempt to destroy peace in the valley'

United: Women hold banners demanding education rights during a protest in Islamabad

The group first started to exert its influence in Swat in 2007 and quickly extended its reach to much of the valley by the next year.
They set about imposing their will on residents by forcing men to grow beards, preventing women from going to the market and blowing up many schools - the majority for girls.
Malala wrote about these practices in a journal for the BBC under a pseudonym when she was just 11. 
After the Taliban were pushed out of the valley in 2009 by the Pakistani military, she became even more outspoken in advocating for girls’ education.
She appeared frequently in the media and was given one of the country’s highest honours for civilians for her bravery.

Today former prime minister Gordon Brown, who is UN Special Envoy for Global Education, said he would be visiting Pakistan next month to talk with President Zardari about Malala's cause of girls' education.

He said: 'I know that Britain will offer Malala the best treatment possible and the British people will welcome her, hoping and praying for her recovery.'

He added: 'Today we are launching on www.educationenvoy.org a petition under the headline 'I am Malala' in support of what Malala fought for, that every girl has the chance to go to school.

'Today, sadly, 32 million girls are not going to school and it is time to fight harder for Malala's dream to come true.'

Solidarity: People light candles to pray for the recovery of Malala Yousafzai in Lahore, Pakistan. Her best friend has vowed that they will return to school

Many hope the shooting of Malala will help push the military to undertake a long-awaited offensive in the Pakistani Taliban's last main sanctuary in the country in the North Waziristan tribal area.
The police station attacked by the Taliban on Sunday night was located in the small town of Matni, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Peshawar, said police officer Ishrat Yar. The militants were armed with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and assault rifles.
One of the policemen who was beheaded was a senior official who commanded several police stations in the area and was leading reinforcements against the attack, said Yar. Another 12 policemen received gunshot wounds.
The militants burned the police station and four police vehicles before they escaped, said Yar.
A Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Afridi, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the police were targeted because they had killed several militants.
The Taliban have carried out hundreds of attacks throughout Pakistan but the attacks rarely include such a high number of militants as in the assault on the police station in Matni.