Malala Yousafzai revisits hometown after 13 years, recalls childhood memories

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai on Thursday expressed nostalgia while reminiscing about her childhood memories during her return to her hometown in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district, her first visit since being shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targeted Yousafzai when she was 15 years old and returning from school. The attack was in retaliation for her open advocacy of women’s right to education at a time when her district had fallen under TTP control, with the militant group enforcing strict restrictions on women’s mobility and education.
Yousafzai had recently visited Pakistan in January as a speaker at the global summit on girls’ education in the Islamic world, which brought together representatives from Muslim-majority countries where millions of girls remain out of school. However, she was unable to visit her hometown during that trip.
“As a child, I spent every holiday in Shangla, Pakistan, playing by the river and sharing meals with my extended family,” she said in a post on X.
“It was such a joy for me to return there today — after 13 long years — to be surrounded by the mountains, dip my hands in the cold river and laugh with my beloved cousins.”

She said her hometown held a “dear place” in her heart and expressed hope to return “again and again,” adding that she prayed for peace in “every corner of Pakistan.”
She also extended condolences to the victims and families of the militant attack at a military cantonment in Bannu this week, in which five Pakistan Army soldiers, 13 civilians and 16 militants were killed.
AFP reported that the area was sealed off to provide security for her visit, which took place on Wednesday and included a stop at local education projects backed by her Malala Fund.
“Her visit was kept highly secret to avoid any untoward incidents,” AFP quoted a senior administration official as saying, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“Even the locals were unaware of her plans to visit.”
Local media reported that Yousafzai also reunited with her family in Barkana and visited her ancestral graveyard during the three-hour trip.
Yousafzai gained global recognition after the 2012 attack, when she was evacuated to the United Kingdom for treatment. She later became a prominent advocate for girls’ education and, at the age of 17, became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Her first visit to Pakistan after being shot was in 2018. She returned again in 2022 to visit flood-affected areas in the country.
This marked her third visit to Pakistan since leaving in 2012. She has been living in the UK since then.