‘They tried to kill me’, Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan says, accuses current PM and opposition party of assassination attempt
- Khan was leading a protest march to Islamabad when he was shot in the leg en route; he is in hospital recovering from surgery
- The attack on his convoy, apparently by a lone gunman, killed one man and wounded at least 10
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Friday accused the current premier Shehbaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior army commander of plotting a botched assassination attempt that left him wounded.
“These three decided to kill me,” Khan told reporters in Lahore in his first public appearance since he was rushed to hospital after Thursday’s attack.
Khan was recovering in hospital after a gunman shot him in the leg, with his supporters vowing the assassination attempt will not derail his “long march” bid to return to power.
The attack on his convoy, apparently by a lone gunman, killed one man and wounded at least 10, significantly raising the stakes in a political crisis that has gripped the South Asian nation since Khan’s ousting in April.
Khan “was stable and he was doing fine” at Shaukat Khanum hospital in the eastern city of Lahore, his doctor Faisal Sultan said on Friday.
Seemi Bokhari, a lawmaker with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said after visiting Khan the former premier was in high spirits.
“The doctors are allowing him to move … He is feeling perfectly well and he will soon be discharged,” she said.
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Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan shot in leg
A spokesman from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party initially said there were two shooters at the scene. One attacker was killed in gunfire and another is in police custody. Local television stations are broadcasting the alleged confession made by one of the attackers to the police.
The attack happened as Khan was leading a protest march to Islamabad to demand snap elections. Geo TV showed the ex-premier being lifted and then taken in a car to a safe location after the incident.
“It was a clear assassination attempt. Khan was hit but he’s stable. There was a lot of bleeding,” Fawad Chaudhry, a spokesperson for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said.
“If the shooter had not been stopped by people there, the entire PTI leadership would have been wiped out,” he said.
At least one bystander was killed in the gunfire, according to police.
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the shooting and ordered the interior minister to seek an immediate investigation.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb asked local administration to secure the attack site to preserve evidence and carry out a detailed investigations into the incident. Police have recovered a 9mm pistol and two empty bullet magazines from the shooter, said Muhammad Nadeem, the police security in-charge for Khan’s rally.
Khan’s supporters have taken to the streets, in so far largely peaceful protests, across the country, news reports said. They’re marching in capital Islamabad and financial hub Karachi.
Khan on Monday had started a protest march to the nation’s capital Islamabad in the latest attempt to press the government to call for early elections. He had planned to lead the motorised caravan slowly northwards up the Grand boot Road to Islamabad, drawing more support along the way before entering the capital.
Each day during his so-called “long march” 70 year-old Khan has mounted a shipping container towed by a lorry, making speeches from the open top to crowds of thousands in cities and towns along the way.
“I want that all of you participate. This is not for politics or personal gain, or to topple the government … this is to bring genuine freedom to the country,” Khan said in a video message on the eve of the march.
The former premier – who was ousted from power after a no-confidence vote in April – has been facing a significant challenge from an election commission ruling that disqualified him as a lawmaker for failing to declare the money he earned from selling gifts he received from foreign leaders while in office.
Reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse
