Malala Yousufzai update: U.K. docs "impressed" by 14-year-old girl's "strength and resilience"

British doctors overseeing the recovery of a teenage Pakistani activist shot in the head by the Taliban were "impressed" by the girl's condition and said Tuesday that she "could make a good recovery," the hospital announced.

Malala Yousufzai's doctors at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham described her condition as "stable" a day after arriving from a Pakistani military hospital where she had been receiving treatment, according to a hospital statement.

Malala's doctors had been "impressed with her strength and resilience," Medical Director Dave Rosser said.

"Her response to treatment so far indicated that she could make a good recovery from her injuries," the statement read.

Malala arrived in the United Kingdom on Monday for more specialized medical care and to protect her from follow-up attacks threatened by the militants.

• Age may be on Malala's side in gunshot recovery
• Pakistani Taliban defend attack on girl, 14
• Malala Yousufzai's friends vow to stay in school

Earlier Tuesday, the Pakistani Taliban told the Reuters news agency in a statement that they considered Malala a "spy of the West" and that she deserved to die because "infidels gave her awards and rewards" for "espionage."

"We targeted her because she would speak against the Taliban while sitting with shameless strangers and idealized the biggest enemy of Islam, Barack Obama," they said.

Malala gained wide recognition for promoting girls' education and criticizing the militant group's behavior when they took over the scenic Swat Valley where she lived. The Taliban told Reuters her advocacy for girls' education wasn't why she was targeted.

"We did not attack her for raising voice for education," they said. "We targeted her for opposing mujahedeen (holy warriors) and their war."

Two of Malala's classmates were also wounded in the attack and are receiving treatment in Pakistan.

Police told CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer that, although the attack happened on a relatively busy road, no witnesses have come forward. On a brighter note, Palmer reports, the school that Malala championed so passionately is full. All the girl students have come to school and told Palmer that they and their parents -- even though they've been frightened by the attack -- are refusing to be intimidated.

Before Malala arrived in the United Kingdom, Pakistani doctors had removed a bullet from her body that entered her head and headed toward her spine.

The Pakistani military has said she was able to move her legs and hands several days ago when her sedatives were reduced.

The military also said damaged bones in Malala's skull will need to be repaired or replaced, and she will need "intensive neuro rehabilitation." The decision to send the girl abroad was taken in consultation with her family, and the Pakistani government will pay for her treatment.

Pakistanis have held rallies for Malala throughout the country, but most have only numbered a few hundred people. The largest show of support by far occurred Sunday when tens of thousands of people held a demonstration in the southern port city of Karachi organized by the most powerful political party in the city, the Muttahida Quami Movement.