PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Saturday said that Malala Yousufzai, the schoolgirl shot in the head by members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was a guiding light for the cause of girls’ education not just in Pakistan but the world over, DawnNews reported.

In his message on Malala Day, the chief minister said that the child activist had become a symbol of peace and education.

He added that Malala’s sacrifice against terrorist forces was a source of pride for the Pakhtun nation.

Chief Minister Hoti said his government would employ education to defeat the extremist mindset, adding that, Malala's services to the cause of girls' education had been recognised across the world.

The 15-year-old is currently receiving specialist treatment in the English city of Birmingham after gunmen shot her on Oct 9 for standing up against the Taliban and openly advocating education for women.

The attack drew widespread international condemnation and with Malala becoming a powerful symbol of resistance to the Taliban’s attempts to suppress women’s rights.

Her shooting was the culmination of years of campaigning that had pitted the young girl against one of Pakistan’s most ruthless Taliban commanders, Mullah Fazlullah.

Fazlullah and his men had in the past taken over Malala’s native Swat Valley and blew up girls’ schools and publicly executed those they deemed immoral. An army offensive in Swat however forced many Taliban fighters to flee.