Some 10 militants suspected of involvement in an attack on teenage activist Malala Yousafzai have been arrested, Pakistan's army says.

The teenager won world acclaim after she was shot by the Taliban in the country's north-west.

Army spokesman General Asim Saleem Bajwa said the detained men attacked Ms Yousafzai, then 16, on orders from Mullah Fazlullah, the head of the Pakistani Taliban.

He said the Taliban had tried to kill her over her advocacy for gender equality and education for women.

Ms Yousafzai was shot in the head in October 2012 while returning from school. She was initially treated in Pakistan, but was later flown to a hospital in Britain, where she now lives with her family.

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