Thousands rally for Pakistani girl shot by Taleban

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan's largest city on Sunday in the biggest show of support yet for a 14-year-old girl who was shot and seriously wounded by the Taleban for promoting girls' education and criticising the militant group.

The Oct 9 attack on Malala Yousufzai as she was returning home from school in Pakistan's north-west horrified people inside and outside the country. At the same time, it gave hope to some that the government would respond by intensifying its fight against the Taleban and their allies.

But protests against the shooting have been relatively small until now, usually attracting no more than a few hundred people. That response pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of people who held violent protests in Pakistan last month against a film produced in the United States that denigrated Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Demonstrations in support of Malala - and against rampant militant violence in the country in general - have also been fairly small compared with those focused on issues such as US drone attacks and the Nato supply route to Afghanistan that runs through Pakistan.