Mr Khan, here in Gujranwala (east) on November 1, was injured while standing on a container placed on a truck. ARIF ALI / AFP
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is in stable condition after he was shot in the leg during a political rally on Thursday (3 November). Mr Khan, who was ousted by a motion of no confidence in April, has been leading a march since Friday bringing together several thousand of his supporters between the city of Lahore (east) and the capital Islamabad in a bid to hold early elections.
One of his close advisers, Raoof Hasan, said it was an “attempt to kill him, to assassinate him”. Mr Khan, 70, was injured by gunfire at him and other party officials who were standing on a container that was on top of a truck moving slowly through crowds near Gujranwala (east).
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“There was a guy in front of the container holding this automatic weapon. He fired a salvo. Anyone in the front row was hit,” said Fawad Chaudhry, a former information minister in the Khan government, who he stood behind. People tried to grab the gun, he said: “In the fight he missed the target. There was a lot of blood on the container. According to him, six people were hit and one bystander killed.
Police did not immediately comment on the incident or confirm reports that one attacker was killed. Officials from Mr Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (Pakistani Justice Movement), said he was taken to a hospital in Lahore. Video posted on social media shows him in hospital with a bandage around his right calf.
In a tweet, Pakistani President Arif Alvi denounced a “disgusting assassination attempt”. “I thank Allah that he is safe, [même si] wounded by multiple bullets in the leg, which hopefully isn’t critical,” he added.
Heinous assassination attempt on the brave @ImranKhanPTI I thank Allah he is safe but was injured with few bullets… https://t.co/wGcgXCOiLf
Ready to die for his country
For decades, Pakistan has grappled with violent Islamist movements that challenge the influence of the central power, and several political assassinations have marked the country’s history. This attack awakens the memory of the attack which took Benazir Bhutto’s life in 2007, the first modern woman to lead a Muslim country. The sponsors of his assassination have never been identified.
Shots were fired and a suicide bomber blew himself up near her vehicle as she greeted her supporters standing on the open roof in Rawalpindi (northeast). She had returned to Pakistan a few weeks earlier to vote in elections after several years in exile. On the day of his return to the country, his convoy was the target of another bloody attack that killed more than 130 people.
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Despite his fall, Mr Khan continues to enjoy broad popular support. Since April, he has held large rallies across the country, attended by tens of thousands of supporters, to put pressure on the fragile governing coalition. He repeatedly reiterates his thesis that his fall was the result of a “conspiracy” hatched by the US, and relentlessly criticizes Shehbaz Sharif’s government and military institution.
Mr Khan came to power in 2018 by mixing promises of welfare reform, religious conservatism and the fight against corruption. But under his mandate, the economic situation deteriorated and he lost support from the army. Over the past few months, he has repeatedly declared himself willing to die for his country, and those around him have repeatedly reported threats against him.
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