'You will be the next Malala': Taliban issues chilling threat against Pakistan schoolgirl, 16, who has campaigned for women's rights

Hina Khan found a red 'X' painted on the gate of her family's Islamabad home

Teenager is known for her female rights activism and pro-education stance

Threat comes two weeks after Taliban shot Malala Yousafzai in the head

Malala 'remains in a stable condition' in Birmingham hospital



The Taliban is targetting another Pakistani schoolgirl activist just two weeks after shooting Malala Yousafzai in the head in a botched assassination.

Hina Khan, believed to be 16, this week found a red 'X' painted on the main gate of her family's Islamabad residence.



After removing the graffiti, the red 'X' reappeared the next day and then her mother Farhat, a social worker, received a phone call from Pershawar warning that Hina is the Taliban's next target.

Warning: The Taliban is targetting another Pakistani schoolgirl activist just two weeks after shooting Malala Yousafzai in the head. Hina Khan, 16, found a red 'X' painted on the gate of her family's Islamabad home

Outspoken: Hina with her parents at a press conference in 2009, criticising the Taliban after previous threats

Like Malala, who was shot on a school bus on October 9, Hina is known for her female rights activism and pro-education stance.



She is also originally from the same Swat Valley area of Pakistan that was under complete Taliban control from 2007 to 2009.

Hina and her family were forced to move to Islamabad in 2006 after publicly criticising atrocities committed by militants.

She told Dawn.com: 'I had left Swat with my family because the militants had threatened girls' education there but now I feel I would not be able to go to school in Islamabad as well after these renewed threats.

'I am more worried now because after the attack on Malala, this red cross appearing on our door and subsequent threats to my family has made us more insecure.'

Her father, Raitullah Khan, said: 'A few days ago when I came out of my house I saw a red cross on my gate, which I removed assuming it might have been drawn by some kids.



'But the very next day it appeared again which really terrified me.

'We [then] received a call that Hina will be next after Malala. We have already been fighting death threats for many years when my wife started speaking for women rights and girls' education.'

Hina first attracted the wrath of the Taliban in 2008, when she held a press conference when militants started bombing schools in a campaign of intolerance against girls receiving an education.



Her mother was already a target of the fundamentalist Islamic group after organising a handicraft show for Swati women in 2006.

Care: Pakistani shooting victim Malala Yousufzai, who is recovering in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham

Support: Campaigners gather for a vigil for Malala Yousafzai in Birmingham's Victoria Square last week The latest threats have so affected Mrs Khan that she now refuses to allow her children to go to school, instead keeping them at home.

Mr Khan said: 'We are almost being held as hostages inside our house. I want security for my three daughters, two sons and my wife so they can live freely.' It today emerged that Al-Qaeda is furious that Malala, 15, is being hailed a heroine around the world. Would-be killers were sent to shoot Malala because she has campaigned for womens' rights and educating girls in the Swat Valley area of Pakistan But their attempt to re-assert power backfired - first by failing to kill brave Malala, and then by sparking protests across Pakistan in support of the schoolgirl. Sunni clerics in the country even issued a fatwa against the Taliban, decrying an attack on a girl as un-Islamic. Support is offered for Malala Yousafzai during a Harvard Square candlelit vigil in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Solidarity: Pakistani students hold pictures of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai on Saturday

But Al-Qaeda member Ustad Ahmad Farooq compared the attack on Western military operations, saying in a letter: 'Nobody spoke up for thousands of such Malalas who became victims of military operations, and nobody protested for them on the roads,’ reported Fox News.

He added: ‘But these circles made so much noise when we targeted this girl who made fun of jihad, the veil and other Islamic values on behest of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

‘This attack created shockwaves in the ruling circles around the world. They issued a number of statements condemning the attack on Malala. I may ask why? Why is Malala's blood more important than those killed by the army?’

Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, said Malala will need a significant period of rest and recuperation before she has reconstructive surgery.

Malala, who cannot speak at the moment, was in a medically induced coma on arrival in Britain last Monday, but has since regained consciousness and has stood for the first time since the shooting.

She was struck just above the back of her left eye, with the bullet travelling down the side of her jaw and damaging the skull. It went through her neck and lodged in the tissue above her shoulder blade.