Pakistan's Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Saturday arrived at her hometown, Mingora, in Pakistan, for the first time since the Taliban shot her there in 2012 for advocating girls' education.

Yousafzai and her family arrived in a helicopter provided by the Pakistani military which took her to the town of Mingora in the Swat Valley from Islamabad. She arrived in the capital before dawn on Thursday flanked by heavy security and plans to return to Britain on Monday.

Yousafzai, 20, rose to international prominence after she was shot by the Taliban in Mingora. She received initial treatment in Pakistan and was later taken to England for further care. She continued to stay in the United Kingdom to complete her education to become the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

Yousafzai entered her childhood home accompanied by her father, mother and brother. She broke down into tears when she entered the home. Her relatives, former class fellows and friends had been anxiously waiting for her to welcome her with flowers and hugs.

Youzafzai said she waited for this moment for more than five years and said she often looked at Pakistan on the map, hoping that one day she will return. She said she plans to permanently return to Pakistan after completing her studies in Britain.

"It is still like a dream for me, am I among you? Is it a dream or reality," she said.The security was visibly beefed up in Mingora the previous day. The Pakistani Taliban had warned that they would target her again if they got the chance.

Yousafzai had asked authorities to allow her to go to Mingora and Shangla village in the Swat Valley, where a school had been built by the Malala Fund.

Since her attack and recovery, Yousafzai led the Malala Fund in which she said has invested $6 million for schools and books and uniforms for schoolchildren.

In October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban assassin who jumped inside her school van and yelled, "Who is Malala?" She was targeted for speaking out on girls' education.

Yousafzai has delighted in telling the Taliban that instead of silencing her, they have amplified her voice. She has also written a book, spoken at the United Nations and met with refugees.

On Friday, Yousafzai praised the Pakistan army in an interview with Geo news channel for providing her timely medical treatment, pointing that the surgery was done by an army surgeon at the "right time."

Yousafzai won praise from across Pakistan on her return home, but some critics on social media have tried to undermine her efforts to promote girls' education.

Yousafzai told media outlets on Friday that she expected criticism from militants, however, didn't understand why some educated Pakistanis opposed her views.

"Those who do criticize have an absurd kind of criticism that doesn't make any sense," she said in an interview with Pakistan's The News English-language newspaper published on Saturday.

"What I want is for people to support my purpose of education and think about the daughters of Pakistan who need an education," she told the newspaper.

"Don't think about me. I don't want any favour or I don't want everyone to accept me. All I care about is that they accept education as an issue."

In the interview, she said she was sitting in her classroom when the news broke about her Nobel Prize. She said she was not aware of it as she was not using her mobile phone at the time.

"My teacher came into my classroom and called me outside. I was worried that I might have done something wrong and I am in trouble. But she told me that I had won the Peace Prize. I said thank you. You don't know how to respond. For me, it was for the cause of education," she told the paper.