Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
IRGC statement: Repetition of evil will lead to the realization of the common aspiration of the Islamic nation and free peoples to eradicate the cancerous gland of Zion.
IRGC statement: Any repetition of evil will accelerate the collapse of the US military establishment in the region.
IRGC statement: US bases and mobile military targets in the region are not a strength of this national defense, but rather a weakness.
IRGC statement: Iran will not leave any attack on its territorial integrity, sovereignty, or national security unanswered under any circumstances.
IRGC statement: This base is the headquarters of the Air Force and the largest strategic asset of the terrorist American army in the West Asia region.
IRGC statement: We targeted Al Udeid base in Qatar with a powerful and devastating missile attack as part of Operation Annunciation of Victory.
Explosions heard across Doha: AFP journalists
Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Qatar temporarily closes its airspace "for the safety of citizens, residents, and visitors."
Al Mayadeen: Israeli warplanes raid the outskirts of Al-Aishiya and Al-Mahmoudiya, Southern Lebanon.
Israeli media: Direct damage from Iranian bombing of "Israel" in one week is estimated at approximately 5 billion shekels (about $1.35 billion)

Former Japan PM shot, feared dead

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 8 Jul 2022 08:25
4 Min Read

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is feared dead after being shot on Friday at a campaign event in the Nara region, according to local media.

  • x
  • Former Japan PM shot and is feared dead.
    Former Japan PM shot and feared dead

Shinzo Abe, Japan's former Prime Minister, was shot during a campaign rally on Friday, according to a government official, while local media said the ex-leader was not breathing.

"Former prime minister Abe was shot at around 11:30 am," in the country's western region of Nara, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. "One man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former prime minister Abe is currently unknown."

"Whatever the reason, such a barbaric act can never be tolerated, and we strongly condemn it," Matsuno added.

Local media, including NHK and the Kyodo news agency, said the former Prime Minister seemed to be in "cardiorespiratory arrest", a term commonly used in Japan before a suspected death can be officially certified by a coroner.

Read next: Japan Chooses Its New Prime Minister

The assassination of a man who may be Japan's most well-known politician occurs despite the country's well-known low levels of violent crime and strict weapons prohibitions.

Abe was giving a stump speech at an event before Sunday's upper house elections, and while security was present, viewers were able to approach him pretty readily.

NHK footage shows him standing on a stage when a loud boom is heard and smoke can be seen in the air. A man is then seen being tackled to the ground by security. "He was giving a speech and a man came from behind," a young woman at the scene told NHK.

"The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn't fall and there was a large bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and smoke," she added. "After the second shot, people surrounded him and gave him a cardiac massage."

Abe, 67, slumped and was bleeding from the neck, according to a source in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Related News

Japan cancels US security talks over defense spending demands

Japan, China trade blame over near-miss incident amid PLA drills

"What we can share now is that his transfer here has been completed," an official at Nara Medical University hospital told AFP, declining to comment on the former leader's condition.

'Saddened and shocked' 

According to several media outlets, he seemed to have been shot from behind. Local media outlet Jiji said the administration had organized a task force in the aftermath of the tragedy and that reactions were already pouring in.

NHK is broadcasting the moment that Japanese Former PM Shinzo Abe was shot from behind. Video does not show the shooter, just the puff of smoke. pic.twitter.com/4CNW1JTmvn

— Global: MilitaryInfo (@Global_Mil_Info) July 8, 2022

"We are all saddened and shocked by the shooting of former prime minister Abe Shinzo," US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

"The US government and American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, and people of Japan."

Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin, on his part, strongly condemned the "barbaric attack" on former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Sputnik reported.

"We are praying for the health of former Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Shinzo Abe. We strongly condemn the barbaric attack on him," Galuzin said in a statement posted on the Russian embassy's Twitter account.

According to Jiji, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's special advisor Gen Nakatani told reporters that "terror or violence can never be tolerated."

Read next: Citing US Alliance, Former Japan PM Warns China

Abe, Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister, served for one year in 2006 and again from 2012 to 2020 until being forced to resign due to the debilitating bowel condition ulcerative colitis.

It is worth noting that Japan has some of the strictest gun-control regulations in the world, and yearly firearm deaths in the country of 125 million people are often in the single digits.

Even for Japanese nationals, obtaining a gun license is a lengthy and complicated process that requires a recommendation from a shooting association and extensive police checks.

  • Japan
  • Prime Minister
  • Shinzo Abe

Most Read

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

  • MENA
  • 17 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025 (AP)

Wave 12 of Operation True Promise 3 launched, Sejjil deployed: IRGC

  • Politics
  • 18 Jun 2025
Iran launches missile barrage to Tel Aviv, casualties reported

True Promise 3, wave 14: Tel Aviv targeted, casualties reported

  • Politics
  • 19 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Politics

Spain seeks immediate suspension of EU association pact with 'Israel'

Israeli settlers evacuate a building damaged in an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)
Politics

Tel Aviv streets ghostly; settlers flee under Iranian missile fire

Trump’s secret Iran strike uncovered in explosive CNN report
Politics

Behind the scenes: Trump's decision to strike Iran mapped - CNN

The oil tanker Palanca Rio arrives in Portland, Maine, the United States, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 (AP)
Economy

Oil prices spike as US-Israeli aggression on Iran sparks concerns

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS