Protesters have taken to the streets of Pakistan after a gunman opened fire on a convoy carrying former prime minister Imran Khan, wounding him and killing a supporter as he led a march in Islamabad to demand snap elections.
A party aide said Khan, 70, had been wounded in his lower leg and was stable after an incident described by his supporters as an assassination attempt. “A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded. Imran Khan is also injured,” said Umar shortly after the shooting.
The identity of the gunman, who was arrested at the scene, was not immediately known. Footage circulated online of a dishevelled, man in apparent police custody with his hands tied behind his back, claiming he intended to kill Khan. Video from the scene shows a gunman being taken down by another man as he tries to fire his gun, reportedly a 9 mm automatic weapon, at Khan. In the panic, the crowd start dispersing and some people chase and catch the attacker.
Protests erupted across Pakistan in the wake of the shooting, blocking main roads across the country and leading to massive traffic jams in many cities, including the capital, Islamabad. Khan’s aides said there would be further protests on Friday.
The attack happened in the Wazirabad district in the east of Punjab province, where the former international cricket star’s party, Pakistan (PTI), is in power. The former prime minister was travelling in a large convoy of lorries and cars heading towards Islamabad as part of his campaign to force the government to hold early elections that could see him return to the office.
Faisal Jawed, a senator 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.
Punjab police confirmed that seven people had been injured and one person, identified as Muazzam Nawaz, had been killed.
Pakistan has a long history of political violence. The former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007 in a gun and bomb attack after holding an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad.
Khan’s first wife, Jemima Goldsmith, tweeted: “The news we dread … Thank God he’s okay. And thank you from his sons to the heroic man in the crowd who tackled the gunman.”
Imran Khan blames establishment figures for the plot to kill him.
Tensions escalated in Pakistan on Friday as former Prime Minister Imran Khan blamed establishment figures for a plot to kill him – a claim strenuously denied by governing and security officials.
A day after he survived a shooting at a political rally outside the town of Gujranwala, Punjab province, Khan gave a rambling speech at a hospital in the city of Lahore, where he was recovering from the injuries he sustained. While sitting in a wheelchair, the cricket star-turned-politician cited three senior figures as being behind the attack.
The former Pakistan leader sustained a fracture to his right leg due to stray bullet wounds, Dr Faisal Sultan told reporters. Sultan displayed X-rays showing the fracture in Khan’s right leg and bullet fragments that were lodged in two sides of his thigh.
Without offering evidence, Khan blamed Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal, who is a senior intelligence official.
Khan first alleged on Thursday that the trio were responsible for the plot, in a statement shared by PTI senior leader Assad Umar, who said he had recently spoken to Khan.
In a televised address on Thursday, Sanaullah rejected the accusation, calling it “grievous.”
The media wing of the Pakistani military condemned Khan’s claims on Friday, calling them “baseless and irresponsible allegations” and threatening legal action.
“No one will be allowed to defame the institution or its soldiers with impunity. Keeping this in view, the government of Pakistan has been requested to investigate the matter and initiate legal action against those responsible for defamation and false accusations against the institution and its officials without any evidence whatsoever,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Khan had said he knew about the plot to kill him a day before it happened, and claimed there were two shooters involved in his attack.
“There was a burst from one side, and another from the front. There were two people,” Khan said when talking about the attack.
Khan has locked horns with the government since his dramatic ouster in a no-confidence vote in April. During that time, he repeatedly claimed, without any evidence, that the United States was behind his loss of power.
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