ISLAMABAD - Strongly condemning the terrorist attack on Malala Yousafzai, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said on Wednesday Pakistani armed forces would not bow before terror and would fight regardless of the costs.
According to ISPR, the Army Chief expressed these views during his visit to CMH Peshawar to oversee the treatment being given to Malala Yousafzai 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. “This is not the first time they have targeted children, the attack on Parade Lane, Rawalpindi, is a painful reminder of their bloodlust. They have no respect even for the golden words of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that ‘the one who is not kind to children, is not amongst us’. Such inhuman acts clearly expose the extremist mindset the nation is facing,” he said.
In attacking Malala, the terrorists have failed to grasp that she is not only an individual, but an icon of courage and hope, who vindicates the great sacrifices that the people of Swat and the nation gave, for wresting the Swat Valley from the scourge of terrorism. She has become a symbol for the values that the Army, with the nation behind it, is fighting to preserve for our future generations, the COAS said.
“These are the intrinsic values of an Islamic society, based on the principles of liberty, Justice and equality of man. Islam guarantees each individual - male or female - equal and inalienable right to life, property and human dignity, with faith and education as the chief obligations to achieve enlightenment.”
“We wish to bring home a simple message: We Refuse To Bow Before Terror. We Will Fight, Regardless Of The Cost, We Will Prevail Insha’Allah”, the Army Chief said.
The COAS re-emphasised that the terrorists underestimated the resolve and resilience of the people of Pakistan. “It is time we further unite and stand up to fight the propagators of such barbaric mindset and their sympathisers.”


Military to fight terrorism regardless of cost: Kayani