Millions Of Afghans Continue Outpouring For Pakistani Schoolgirl

Afghan students in Jalalabad join school officials in prayer for the speedy recovery of Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani peace activist who was shot by Taliban militants.

Millions of students in Afghanistan have participated in nationwide prayers for the recovery of Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old girl shot and gravely wounded this week by the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

Officials from Afghanistan's Education Ministry said some 9.5 million students in 15,000 schools across Afghanistan prayed for the injured schoolgirl in a coordinated event on October 13.

"Our sister, Malala, is not alone," one student told Radio Free Afghanistan. "We will not let her be alone. We support her efforts and pray to God for her speedy recovery."

Education Minister Farooq Wardak, speaking at a school in Kabul, called the shooting of Yousafzai a crime "against Islam and humanity."

The Pakistani Taliban shot Yousafzai in the head and neck on her school bus on October to avenge her campaign for girls' right to an education in the militants' former stronghold of Swat.

She remains on a ventilator in a military hospital in Rawalpindi following surgery earlier this week.

Two other girls were less seriously injured in the October 9 attack.

With additional reporting by AFP