A 15-year-old girl shot in the head by the Taliban will undergo re­constructive surgery in the next month, her doctors have said.

Malala Yousafzai was shot in Pakistan in October and later transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for further specialist treatment, where she remains.

In a statement released yesterday, Dr Dave Rosser, medical director, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, said Malala would undergo cranial reconstruction surgery in late January or early February as part of her long-term recovery.

Meanwhile, Malala is now likely to secure permanent residence in the UK after her father was granted a job with the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham. Ziauddin Yousafzai has been appointed education attache for three years, with the option of an extension for a further two years afterwards.

Both he and his daughter have had threats made against their lives by the Taliban since the shooting.

Malala’s British doctors have been delighted with her ongoing recovery. When she was shot on October 9 last year, the bullet entered just above her left eye and ran along her jaw, “grazing” her brain – it was later removed by surgeons in Pakistan before she was flown to the UK.

Dr Rosser said: “Malala has continued to make great progress in her treatment.”

The Pakistani High Commission’s decision to appoint Mr Yousafzai to its staff makes it more likely than ever Malala and her family will remain in Britain long-term.

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