NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was injured on Thursday when a gunman opened fire on his vehicle as he led a rally against the government, adding to the political turmoil in the country.
The incident occurred in Wazirabad town of Pakistan’s Punjab province, some 100 km from Lahore, as Khan, 70, was heading towards Islamabad with his supporters to pressure the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to call early elections. Video footage showed a volley of bullets being apparently fired from an automatic weapon as Khan and other leaders of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party stood on the roof of the vehicle.
PTI leaders said Khan was hit in the right leg and that he was out of danger. Reports said Khan was taken to Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore for treatment. Television footage showed an injured Khan waving to supporters after being shot and then being carried to his bulletproof truck.
A PTI worker was killed and 13 others, including party leaders Ahmed Chattha and Faisal Javed, were injured in the shooting. A suspect armed with a pistol was arrested at the scene of the shooting after a PTI supporter grappled with him.
“It was a clear assassination attempt. Khan was hit but he’s stable. There was a lot of bleeding,” PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry told Reuters. Another PTI leader, Faisal Sultan, told reporters in Lahore that X-rays had revealed shrapnel from bullets in Khan’s leg and a chip in his shin bone.
As Pakistani leaders such as Prime Minister Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack, Imran Asad Umar that blamed Sharif, PML-N leader and federal interior minister Rana Sanaullah and an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official named Maj Gen Faisal Naseer for being behind the attempt to target him.
Umar quoted Khan as saying that he had made the accusation on the basis of information he had received. He did not give details. Khan has targeted two army officials in several of his recent public speeches – Naseer, who heads ISI’s C directorate that is responsible for internal security, and Brig Faheem Raza, the sector commander for Islamabad.
Khan benefited from the military’s patronage during the 2018 general election, when he swept to power. But his relationship with the powerful Pakistan Army soured after he was removed in a vote of no-confidence in April. The military launched a no-holds barred onslaught against Khan last month, taking the unprecedented step of fielding ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum for a news conference at which the former premier was accused of maligning the army leadership and creating divisions within the polity and the people.
Anjum said Khan had offered an “indefinite extension” to Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa in March, shortly before the confidence vote. He also accused Khan of secretly meeting the army leadership to seek help through “illegal and extra-constitutional” means and then subsequently referring to the generals as “traitors”.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the attack on Khan. “I condemn the firing on Imran Khan and his associates and pray for the recovery of the injured,” Nawaz Sharif tweeted.
“I condemn the incident of firing on PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the strongest words. I have directed Interior Minister for an immediate report on the incident. I pray for the recovery and health of PTI chairman & other injured people,” Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet.
In New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, who addressed a regular news briefing shortly after the attack, said the Indian side is keeping a watch on the developments in Pakistan.
