Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen on a school bus in the city of Mingora, situated in the Swat Valley in north-west Pakistan, while she was returning home from school on October 9, 2012. The attack occurred when the bus was coming from Khushal Public School, and the gunmen specifically targeted her due to her activism for girls' education. She was shot above her left eyebrow, with the bullet traveling through her neck and lodging in her back. She was immediately airlifted to hospitals for emergency treatment.