Shot Pakistani schoolgirl Malala stable: UK doctors

Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, shot in the head by the Taliban, spent a third "comfortable" night at a UK hospital, with doctors on Thursday saying they are "pleased with her progress so far".

The various specialist consultants from both the Queen Elizabeth hospital, where 14-year-old Malala is admitted, and Birmingham Children's hospital continue to assess her on a daily basis.

"Malala Yousufzai's condition remains stable. She spent a third comfortable night in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and doctors are pleased with her progress so far," the Queen Elizabeth Hospital said in a statement.

At this time Malala's family remain in Pakistan, it said.

A spokeswoman for the hospital would not comment on reports that the girl was moving her limbs, saying doctors had to respect patient confidentiality and would release more information when possible.

The schoolgirl was flown to the UK on Monday following a surgery in Pakistan during which a bullet lodged near her spine was removed.

Doctors at the Birmingham hospital, with a decade's experience of treating British military casualties, are now planning the reconstructive operations needed to treat her horrific injuries.

More than 600 people from around the world have posted messages of support for Malala on the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust website.

British campaigners are also staging a vigil outside Birmingham Council House in Victoria to show their support for Malala.

Malala along with two of her classmates was attacked in the restive Swat region of northwest Pakistan as they made their way home from school, in what British Foreign Secretary William Hague described as a "barbaric attack".

The teenager was treated by neurosurgeons in a Pakistani military hospital and has since been in intensive care. She was transferred to the UK by an air ambulance arranged by the United Arab Emirates.

Hague has said: "Malala's bravery in standing up for the right of all young girls in Pakistan to an education is an example to us all. The public revulsion and condemnation of this cowardly attack shows that the people of Pakistan will not be beaten by terrorists."