MUMBAI, Nov 10: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday promised to hunt for the Taliban attackers who shot Malala Yousufzai.

The Pakistani Taliban have admitted shooting Malala in the head on a school bus a month ago to punish her for the `crime’ of campaigning for girls’ rights to an education.

“Afghanistan will hunt for Malala’s attackers,” Mr Karzai said in an interview with India’s CNN-IBN television network, aired as he began a four-day visit to the country and as the world marked `Malala Day’.

Miraculously the 15-year-old survived the shooting and her courage, which won the hearts of millions around the world, prompted the United Nations to declare Saturday a “global day of action” for her.

Speaking about Malala, who is recovering in a British hospital, Mr Karzai accused Pakistan of having armed and trained the teenager’s assailants.

“Terrorism is a snake and when you train a snake, you can’t expect it will only go in the neighbour’s house,” he said. “When the attack on Malala happened, this proved our point.”

“The earlier they (the Pakistanis) accept it and fight radicalism, the better for us, the better for Pakistan and the better for India,” Mr Karzai said.

The Afghan president regularly accuses Pakistan of supporting Taliban trying to topple his government — a charge Islamabad denies.—AFP