Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was shot at and injured on Thursday evening when a suspect, standing in front of the container carrying the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief and senior party leaders, showered a volley of bullets with an automatic pistol when the party's ‘Haqaaqi Azadi’ march reached Wazirabad’s Allahwala Chowk, reports Dawn.
It later transpired that a PTI supporter, identified as Muazzam Nawaz, had lost his life, while 14 party leaders and workers, including Senator Faisal Javed Khan, MNA Ahmad Nasir Chattha and Omer Mayar, were among the injured.
Imran Khan, who sustained multiple bullet injuries in his leg, was reported to be stable and shifted to Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Lahore.
Other injured were shifted to local hospitals for immediate treatment. Khan was operated upon and pellets were removed from his thigh and shin.
PTI senior leader Fawad Chaudhry alleged it was “a planned assassination attempt on Imran Khan and he escaped narrowly”, claiming an automatic weapon was used.
He tweeted: “It was a well-planned assassination attempt on Imran Khan. The assassin planned to kill Imran Khan and the leadership of PTI. It was not 9MM, it was a burst from an automatic weapon. No two opinions that it was a narrow escape.”
PTI Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid also warned the establishment that “Imran Khan is our red line and now you have crossed the line”.
“You cannot deter us. You cannot! We will take you to task,” she tweeted.
The PTI had resumed its long march from Wazirabad on Thursday afternoon on the seventh day of the movement and was reportedly targeted at around 4:15 pm. The march was suspended for the day on the instructions of the injured party chairman.
Witnesses claimed the suspected assailant fired an entire round of the bullet magazine and was trying to load a second when a PTI supporter, Ibtisam, instantly overpowered him from behind. The suspect was later arrested and taken to a local police station.
The attack, being deemed “targeted”, triggered widespread condemnation from across the political divide.
The suspected assailant arrested from the crime scene claimed in a video statement apparently leaked by the police claimed he had planned to kill Imran Khan when the long march started from Lahore.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan blamed government and military officials for the attack.
He also asked party activists to wait for the next protest.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
