ISLAMABAD: The Taliban said on Tuesday that Swati schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai deserved to die because she had spoken out against the group and praised US President Barack Obama.

They described her as a “spy of the West”.

“For this espionage, infidels gave her awards and rewards. And Islam orders killing of those who are spying for enemies,” the terrorist group said in a statement.

“She used to propagate against mujahideen to defame (the) Taliban. The (holy) Quran says that people propagating against Islam and Islamic forces would be killed.

“We targeted her because she would speak against the Taliban while sitting with shameless strangers and idealised the biggest enemy of Islam, Barack Obama.”

The Taliban statement added: “We did not attack her for raising voice for education. We targeted her for opposing mujahideen and their war.

“Shariah says that even a child can be killed if (s)he is propagating against Islam.”—Reuters