Imran Khan, a former prime minister of Pakistan, was shot and wounded during a protest march, but his health is stable, a senior member of his party stated on Friday.
Up until the incident on Thursday afternoon (local time), Khan’s protest march and rallies were orderly, raising questions about the country’s escalating political unrest in a nation with a long history of political violence and assassinations.
One of Khan’s supporters was killed and 13 others, including two lawmakers, were wounded in the attack.
There is no question, according to Fawad Chaudhry, a top official in Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Imran Khan, the most well-liked leader in Pakistan, is now being treated at the Shaukat Khanum hospital in Lahore and is said to be in a stable condition. “We are confident that it was a well-planned assassination attempt,” the statement continued.
He said the party leadership was meeting in Lahore later Friday.
According to Chaudhry, “We will specify today when our march would resume from Wazirabad.” He gave no other information, but Khan’s party urged supporters to hold protests around the country to denounce the shooting in a brief statement.
Asad Umar, a senior figure from Khan’s party, blamed the shooting on Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the country’s interior minister, and an army general without offering any evidence.
The authorities denied the claim and said that the attacker was being questioned while also ordering a high-level investigation.
The alleged attacker, who can be seen in a video claiming to have carried out the shooting alone, is currently being questioned by police.
Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif on Friday said the Punjab government suspended the police officials who released the video to the media.
The former cricket star-turned-politician was being driven toward Islamabad in a sizable protest convoy of trucks and cars when the incident happened. As gunfire erupts, video footage shows him and his colleagues diving for safety on top of a car.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said some political elements from Khan’s party were trying to create chaos in the country following the attack.
His remarks came after a large number of Khan’s fans held protests around the nation, some of whom sang anti-military chants and vowed to avenge the attack. The alleged shooter, who accused the former premier of equating himself with prophets in some recent public statements, was referred to by the interior minister as a “religious extremist.”
Khan, 70, is likely to be allowed to go home soon, according to Faisal Sultan, who is heading the team of doctors who treated Khan.
He revealed to reporters on Thursday that Khan underwent a two-hour operation and suffered a bullet wound to his right leg.
He argues that his removal from Parliament in April was illegal and the result of a plot by his adversaries, which Washington and Sharif have both refuted.
Khan wants the administration to call early elections.
Along with thousands of supporters, he led the protest last week from Lahore and declared that it would go on until his demands were met. Elections will be held as scheduled in 2023, according to Pakistan.
His supporters rallied overnight in different parts of the country after the shooting..
Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, is safe following the shooting
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