91�ȱ�

Relatives of the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by a Taliban gunman have arrived in the UK where she is recovering in hospital.

The family members are believed to include Malala Yousafzai's father, Ziauddin Yousufzai.

After flying into Birmingham they were given a police escort to the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The Taliban said it shot Malala for "promoting secularism". She is known as a campaigner for girls' education.

Mr Yousufzai has previously told Pakistani media that his daughter will return to the country after she has recovered.

He has dismissed reports that the family would seek asylum in the West because of threats by the Pakistani Taliban.

Malala was shot in the Swat Valley on 9 October as she travelled home from school with two classmates. Doctors said the bullet grazed the teenager's brain when it struck her just above her left eye.

She was flown to Birmingham to receive treatment unavailable in her own country.

Doctors at the hospital said on Thursday that she was still comfortable and responding well to treatment.

They have said Malala will need a period of recuperation before undergoing surgery.

Part of her skull will need to be reconstructed either by reinserting bone that was removed or with a titanium plate.

Since the attack, the teenager has received thousands of goodwill messages from around the world.