Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan survives assassination attempt
PM Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attempted assassination and told the Interior Minister to begin an investigation.
Former PM Imran Khan survived an attempted assassination on Thursday during a political rally in Gujranwala, on his way to his final destination, Islamabad.
Pakistani news channel Geo stated that he was injured in the leg after an anonymous attacker shot his convoy, leading to the injury of five other people from his party, Tehreek-e-Insaf. Raouf Hasan, one of Khan's aides, told AP that the ex-PM's condition is now stable, after video emerged on social media showing the attacker aiming at Khan in the crowd.
PM Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attempted assassination and asked the Interior Minister to investigate it.
Khan intended to gather his supporters and regain popularity, succeeding in attracting a large crowd that demanded early elections be held after Khan resigned due to a no-confidence vote last April.
Since then, Khan has been aiming for legislative elections to take place by October of next year, but a judicial body pertaining to the elections committee announced that the former PM is not qualified to participate as an upcoming candidate or run for office for the next five years.
However, Khan's lawyer, Imran Jawhar, commented that the elections committee in Pakistan labeled Khan as being involved in corruption practices, but the lawyer assured that they will appeal that in front of the Supreme Court of Islamabad.
This comes despite Khan's win in the by-elections when he took six out of eight seats in the National Assembly.