Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has survived a gun attack on his convoy while holding a protest march in the eastern city of Wazirabad.
He was wounded in the leg when a burst of gunfire hit his vehicle. One person was killed and at least five others were injured.
There was no immediate official comment on the motive for the attack which allies say was an assassination bid.
The protest march had been called to demand early elections.
Mr Khan, 70, was leading the march, which was meant to end in the capital Islamabad.
The former prime minister was seen being taken to a hospital in Lahore. A party spokesman said he had been hit in the shin.
He was in a stable condition but an operation was likely, aides said.
Police released a video confession of a man they arrested who they say attempted to kill the former prime minister.
It is unclear under what conditions the interview was carried out but in it the man is asked by police why he opened fire, and replies: “He was misguiding the people. I wanted to kill him. I tried to kill him.”
PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan said on Saturday his life was in danger and that he has recorded a video in which he has taken the names of all those who “conspired against me” since last summer.
Imran, who claims he was ousted from the top office by foreign powers through local players due to his pursuance of an independent foreign policy, made these remarks in his party’s political power show in Sialkot. “There is a conspiracy hatched against me in closed rooms in and outside the country, and they want that Imran Khan’s life [is lost],” he said.
“I knew of this conspiracy … so I have recorded a video and kept it in a secure place. If something happens to me then this video will be [made public] in front of the nation. In it, whoever has conspired against me, whoever is complicit since last summer, I’ve named everyone.
“They think ‘Imran Khan can be an obstacle in our path and needs to be removed.’ And that’s why I’ve recorded this video because I think this is jihad and not politics. If something happens to me then I want all my Pakistanis to know who was complicit in this conspiracy.
“I’ve named everyone who planned and [revealed] how, through a foreign conspiracy, this corrupt lot, together with them, and others who were with them, ended my government. I recorded the video because it’s [part of the] history of how the powerful are never brought under law and always remain safe. Those who betrayed this country, I want their faces to come in the open,” the PTI chairman said.
The purported threat to Imran’s life was first spoken of by Faisal Vawda during the last few weeks of his government in late March.
Imran, in his speech tonight, said that his stance on rooting out corruption was not shared by those in “powerful positions”.
“During my 3.5 years I tried my best that those looting this country for the last 30 years got sentenced and action was taken against them, but those in powerful positions, who were supposed to do justice, did not consider corruption bad. They’ve accepted that the powerful will steal and no one will catch them.”
Imran urged his supporters to participate in his planned march towards Islamabad, warning that if they did not do so then “this country will be destroyed.” He told his audience to brave the climatic hardships that the scorching summer is likely to throw at them on their way to the capital.
The PTI chairman also called on the youth to “start preparing immediately” for the march, adding that the government would try to impede the march by putting curbs on transport, petrol, internet and other services.
He predicted that a “sea of people” would be by his side when he heads to Islamabad.
Imran also questioned the judiciary about its handling of corruption cases against the Sharif family since the new government came into power, alleging that the officials in the Federal Investigation Agency were either being transferred or threatened.
He paid tribute to FIA’s former director Mohammad Rizwan, who probed the money laundering charges against current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, and died of a heart attack on Monday.
Imran alleged that Hamza had “threatened” Rizwan due to which he was under “immense pressure” and died as a result.
The PTI chairman claimed that another FIA investigating officer, Nadeem Akhtar, also suffered a heart attack yesterday.
“Where are the courts? It is your job to protect them,” Imran said as he called out the pressure those investigating the “mafia” were subjected to.
He also lambasted the new government on the economic front, saying that the PTI regime had left it at a promising point but since the “regime change”, the rupee had depreciated alarmingly and the stock market had crashed.
Source: Bbc
