Shangla (Pakistan) - Malala Yousafzai (27) was 15 years old and a schoolgirl when a Pakistani Taliban militant shot her in the head at close range. Many years later, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has now returned to a very special place in Pakistan .

"As a child, I spent every vacation in Shangla, playing by the river and eating with my extended family," Malala wrote on X.

"It was a great joy for me to return there today - after 13 long years - surrounded by the mountains, dipping my hands in the cold river and laughing with my beloved cousins," said the 27-year-old. "This place is very close to my heart and I hope I can return again and again. I pray for peace in every corner of our beautiful country."

Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan , their presence has also increased again in neighboring Pakistan.

As Gulf News Asia reported, Malala's stay was therefore considered a high-security visit.

Together with her father, her husband and her brother, the young woman was flown by helicopter to the place that meant so much to her in her childhood.

The area was temporarily cordoned off to ensure the safety of Malala and her family. After three hours, the top-secret visit, which even the locals knew nothing about, was over again.

Malala was attacked and seriously injured on a school bus by a local branch of the Taliban in 2012 because she had campaigned for girls' right to education. She narrowly survived the attack and moved to the UK with her family in 2013. A year later, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment - making her the youngest winner in the history of the Nobel Prize to date.

Since April 2017, the young woman from Pakistan has been working as a UN Messenger of Peace.