Last week on Twitter, Yousafzai expressed a longing for her homeland. She now lives in Great Britain.

"On this day, I cherish fond memories of home, of playing cricket on rooftops and singing the national anthem in school. Happy Pakistan Day!" she wrote on March 23.

After surviving the attack, Yousafzai was airlifted abroad and underwent surgery.

The Pakistani Taliban, who seized control of her hometown in Pakistan's Swat Valley before being pushed out by the army in 2009, later claimed the attack in response to her blog for the BBC Urdu service advocating girls' education.

The hardline Islamist movement blew up girls' schools and imposed a strict interpretation of sharia law during their rule over Swat.

Unable to return to Pakistan after her recovery, Yousafzai moved to Britain, setting up the Malala Fund and supporting local education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.

Earlier this month, a new girls' school built with her Nobel prize money opened in Shangla, near her home district of Swat.

Yousafzai is currently studying at Oxford University.

While she is arguably the most recognisable Pakistani in the world, Yousafzai - known almost universally as Malala - is a polarising figure at home.

Reuters