A gunman opened fire at a container lorry carrying Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, leaving him wounded in the leg and also some of his supporters as he led a protest march on Islamabad to demand snap elections.
According to a senior leader from his party, Asad Umar and police, the former prime minister was shot when his convoy came under fire in eastern Punjab province
A party aide said Khan had been injured in the shin but was not seriously hurt. “A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded. Imran Khan is also injured,” Umar told Reuters.
The identity of the gunman, who was arrested at the scene, was not immediately known. Also, no group has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Khan’s supporters described the incident as an assassination attempt. He has been taken to hospital.
The attack happened in the Wazirabad district in the eastern Punjab province. Khan was travelling in a large convoy of lorries and cars heading towards the capital, Islamabad, as part of his campaign aimed at forcing the government to hold early elections.
Pakistani media circulated video of a suspected gunman being taken down by another man as he tries to fire his gun, reportedly a 9mm automatic weapon, at Khan, with the man behind him trying to grab it.
The video shows a panicky situation and the crowd starts dispersing. Some people start running after the attacker and they catch him.
Khan with later seen with a bandage on his foot. He was moved to another vehicle from his container truck, from where announcements were being made that he was safe. Some of the supporters from his Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) were also wounded, according to the announcement.
“He is being taken to a hospital in Lahore, but he is not seriously wounded. A bullet hit him in the leg,” Umar told reporters.
Senator Faisal Javed from Khan’s party, who was injured in the incident, talked to local media with blood on his shirt. “One political worker has been killed and some political aides are injured including Imran Khan. He is out of danger and we pray for him,” he said.
Zeeshan Bakhsh, a local reporter who was present, told the local media that in the beginning, no one knew what was happening and some thought it was fireworks.
“After the first burst, I saw someone lying on the ground […] everything happened in 15 seconds,” he said.
Reacting to the shooting, the Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said; “I condemn the incident of firing on PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the strongest words. I have directed the Interior Minister for an immediate report on the incident. I pray for the recovery and health of the PTI Chairman and other injured people.”
The attack happened less than a week after Khan began his march from Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, along with thousands of supporters.
Since his ousting in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April, Khan has alleged that he was the victim of a conspiracy engineered by his successor, Sharif, and the US – claims that the new premier and Washington have both denied.
He claimed in May that his life was in danger and he had recorded a video in which he mentioned the names of all those who conspired against him.
Khan’s latest challenge to the government comes after Pakistan’s Elections Commission disqualified him from holding public office for five years for allegedly selling state gifts unlawfully and concealing assets as premier. Khan has challenged the disqualification in a pending court case.
Sharif’s government has also said there will be no early vote and that the next elections will be held according to schedule, in 2023.
