WASHINGTON, Oct 9: The US State Department on Tuesday condemned the shooting of Malala Yousufzai, calling it a cowardly and barbaric act.

The report of her shooting spread like a jungle fire and media outlets across the world described her as a child campaigner for education who stood up against the might of Taliban.

“We strongly condemn the shooting of Malala. Directing violence at children is barbaric, it’s cowardly, and our hearts go out to her and the others who were wounded, as well as their families,” the State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters at a news briefing in Washington.

“Big tough guys shot a defenceless unarmed girl because she wants education for her and her friends? What a bunch of pathetic losers,” wrote a Washington Post reader, Wyatt Buchanan, under the shooting’s news.

In the US, the shooting dwarfed the presidential campaign as hundreds of media outlets posted it on their websites and broadcast it in their main news bulletins.

It went viral on the Twitter and Facebook as well where tens of thousands appealed to the people to pray for her full recovery.

“A teenager from a Swat village comprehended the Taliban’s barbarism in ways some Oxford-educated urbanites could not,” said a twiterati.

“The Taliban are using religion to hide their inferiority complex,” said a Facebook post. “They cannot hide the fact that women make them nervous.”

The Washington Post described her as a 14-year-old Pakistani activist who won “international acclaim for speaking out for girls denied education under the Taliban”.

The New York Times posted a two-part documentary about her father’s struggle to reopen a school for girls in Swat after the military regained control of the valley from the Taliban.

They also posted the video of an interview with her on their site.