Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, whose home region is among the northern Pakistan areas most severely affected by cloudburst-triggered floods, mourned loss of life and expressed solidarity with the displaced and grieving.
“My heart breaks for every community affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan, from Gilgit Baltistan to Azad Jammu and Kashmir and especially Buner, Swat, Bajaur and Shangla in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Malala wrote in a message sent on X.
The scenic Shangla District of the Malakand Division is her hometown.
According to a KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) report, Shangla 37 Deaths, Mansehra 23, SWAT 22, Bajaur 21, Battagtram 15, Lower Dir Five and one was registered in Abbottabad.
It added that 11 houses were destroyed, while 63 were partially damaged, while two schools in SWAT and another in Shangla were also affected.
“My deepest compassion for anyone who has lost dear, home and livelihood,” the Nobel Prize winner wrote in his inner post.
Rescuers struggled to pick up bodies from muddy garbage on Saturday after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains over northern Pakistan killed at least 344 people in the last 48 hours, authorities said.
Most of the deaths, 324, were reported in KP, said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Most were killed in flash floods and collapsed houses, while at least 137 others were injured.
The provincial rescue bureau told AFP The fact that about 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the waste and performing relief operations in nine districts where rain still inhibited the efforts.
Malala, a strong spokesman for girls education, returned to his village, Barkana in Shangla, in March 2025, which marked his first visit in 13 years ago survivors an assault attempt from militants.
This visit marked her first return to Shangla since she survived a shooting in 2012. She last visited Pakistan in 2018 but was unable to travel to her hometown at the time.
Malala was attacked by the Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan terrorists, now declared Fitna-Al-Khawarij by the country’s civilian and military leadership on a school bus in SWAT Valley in 2012.
She was evacuated to the United Kingdom and continued to become a global spokesman for girls education and at the age of 17 The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.
