Social media platform Twitter on Wednesday permanently suspended the Taliban account which threatened Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, tweeting that “there would be no mistake” when they make a second attempt on her life.
She was shot and wounded nine years ago when a Pakistani Taliban militant walked up to a 15-year-old Malala in a school bus in which she was travelling and fired three bullets due to her campaign for girls education.
The tweet urged Malala to return home “because we have a score to settle with you and your father”, adding that “there would be no mistake” next time in Urdu.
After the threat, Malala tweeted, calling out the Pakistan military and the government over the tweet. She asked Prime Minister Imran Khan and the military to explain how her alleged shooter, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had escaped from custody.
“This is the ex-spokesperson of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan who claims the attack on me and many innocent people. He is now threatening people on social media. How did he escape?” she tweeted on Tuesday.
This is the ex-spokesperson of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan who claims responsibility for the attack on me and many innocent people. He is now threatening people on social media. How did he escape @OfficialDGISPR @ImranKhanPTI? https://t.co/1RDdZaxprs
— Malala (@Malala) February 16, 2021
Ehsan, a long-time member of the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, was arrested in 2017, but escaped in January last year from a “safe house” where he was being held by Pakistan’s intelligence agency.
An adviser to the prime minister said that the matter is being investigated after asking Twitter to suspend the account.
A report in the Associated Press said that Ehsan was never charged for his crimes, which include a 2014 attack on a Pakistani public school that killed 134, mostly children. It is also unclear how he left Pakistan and travelled to Turkey, where he is believed to be residing now, as authorities have failed to give an explanation.
