Pakistani Taliban Threatens Award-Winning Female Activists

First Lady Michelle Obama (left) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (right) congratulate Shad Begum of Pakistan during the U.S. State Department's 2012 International Women of Courage Award winners' ceremony on March 8.

The Pakistani Taliban has threatened the well-being of two award-winning Pakistani female activists, accusing the women of promoting secularism and being pro-American.

The U.S. State Department awarded Shad Begum, a social worker from Lower Dir, its 2012 International Women of Courage Award in Washington on March 8.

Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old girl from Swat, in 2011 received Pakistan's National Peace Award for Youth.

A Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan spokesman told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that the two women were on the militants' "target list."

The spokesman also threatened retribution against anyone involved in trials of the family of the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a daring cross-border raid from Afghanistan into Pakistan by U.S. special forces in May.

Pakistani authorities on March 8 said bin Laden's widows have been charged with illegally entering and staying in Pakistan.

With newsweekpakistan.com reporting