'We represent Pashtuns not the Taliban:' Malala hits back at Imran Khan over comments on Pashtun culture

Nobel Laureate and women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai has strongly reacted to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's statement that the Taliban is predominantly a Pashtun movement, Friday Times reported.

"I nearly lost my life fighting against the Taliban's ban on girls' education. Thousands of Pashtun activists and notables lost their lives when they raised their voices against Taliban's horrors, while millions became refugees. We represent Pashtuns — not the Taliban," she wrote on Twitter.

On Sunday, Imran Khan had addressed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) where his remarks about the ban on girls' education and Taliban generated a controversy.

The Prime Minister had suggested that the issue of restrictions on girls' education is linked to the Pashtun culture and that the Taliban had been making efforts to work towards ensuring that girls go to school.

Further, he said that the Taliban was a predominantly Pashtun movement, reiterating his earlier statement wherein he had termed Pashtuns as Taliban sympathisers, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

Imran Khan's remarks sparked an outrage on Twitter with Afghan activists and journalists sharing how Taliban's position against girls' education was not endorsed by ordinary Afghan citizens.