Rallies and vigils have been held across Pakistan in support of a 14-year-old activist for girls’ education who was left seriously wounded in a targeted shooting. Malala Yousafzai was on her way home from school in an area of northwest Pakistan when militants stopped the vehicle she was traveling in. One man reportedly asked for Malala by name and then shot her in the head and neck. The Pakistani Taliban has since claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted her speaking out against them as well as against “Islam and sharia.” Malala has been celebrated worldwide for opposing the Taliban’s efforts to stop girls from attending school. On Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered in several Pakistani cities to condemn the attack.

Tahia Abdulla: “There’s nothing more cowardly than for grown men to be attacking a small little girl of 14 years old. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms, and I think there can be nothing more cowardly than this.”

Malala is said to be in stable condition after undergoing surgery to remove a bullet from her skull. The Pakistani government has offered a bounty of more than $100,000 for the capture of those who shot her.