Shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai leaves hospital

Malala was shot as she was returning home from school in Pakistan's Swat Valley in October

A Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban has been discharged from hospital after making a good recovery following surgery.

Malala Yousafzai, 15, was attacked in October after campaigning for girls' rights to education.

A bullet was removed from her head by surgeons in Pakistan, before she was flown to the UK for further treatment.

She had a titanium plate and cochlear implant fitted at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Saturday.

The hospital's medical team said it had been "very pleased" with the progress Malala had made after two operations, lasting more than five hours, at the weekend.

No more surgery

Hospital officials said Malala would continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary home.

They added she would continue to visit the hospital for outpatient appointments.

On Monday, doctors said they did not expect Malala to have to undergo any further surgery.

She was initially discharged from the hospital last month as an outpatient, ahead of her latest operations.

Malala was returning home from school in the north-western Swat district on 9 October when gunmen stopped her bus and shot her in the head and the chest.

She received immediate treatment in Pakistan, where surgeons removed a bullet which entered just above her left eye and ran along her jaw, grazing her brain.

International outrage

The teenager was then flown to the UK and admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 15 October for specialist treatment.

The Taliban said it shot Malala, a campaigner for girls' education, for "promoting secularism".

The shooting sparked domestic and international outrage.

She is now expected to secure permanent residence in the UK after her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, was given a job with the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham for the next three years.

Earlier this week, it was announced a fund, set up in Malala's name, will be used to help provide education for all young people.

The first grant being provided by the Malala Fund will go towards urging families in her home area of the Swat Valley to keep their daughters in education.