Kayani vows to fight terror, condemns attack on girl

Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Wednesday promised to fight terror "regardless of the cost" after child peace campaigner Malala Yousafzai was shot at by the Taliban.

General Kayani strongly condemned the terror attack on Malala, reported Online news agency.

The general visited Peshawar to oversee the treatment being given to her and to meet her family.

He said the cowards who attacked Malala and her fellow students have shown time and again how little regard they have for human life and how low they can fall in their cruel ambition to impose their twisted ideology upon others.

Malala, Pakistan's first National Peace Award winner, was shot and seriously injured in the country's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Tuesday.

Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they would target her again if she survived because she was "secular-minded".

She was on her way home from school when an attacker wearing police uniform stopped the school bus and opened fire at her. Malala was seriously wounded, while two other girls incurred slight injuries.

The girl received fame in Pakistan and abroad due to her struggle for restoration of peace in Swat area.

The army chief said it is not the first time that the Taliban have targeted children.

He said that in attacking Malala, the terrorists have failed to grasp that she is not only an individual, but an icon of courage and hope.

"We wish to bring home a simple message: We refuse to bow before terror. We will fight, regardless of the cost," the army chief said.