Former Pakistan PM Khan Shot, Wounded at Protest March

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Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was wounded in an apparent assassination attempt Thursday while he was leading his ongoing anti-government march on Islamabad. The…

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was wounded in an apparent assassination attempt Thursday while he was leading his ongoing anti-government march on Islamabad.

The 70-year-old leader of opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was hit by at least one bullet in his right leg, his senior aid Rauf Hassan confirmed to VOA.

The gun attack in Wazirabad town, central Punjab province, left at least one person dead and 14 others wounded, including the former prime minister.

Khan was transported to a hospital in Lahore, the capital of Punjab, about 150 kilometers from the site of the attack, where doctors said he was in a stable condition, according to the aide.

Video footage showed a gunman firing from the ground at Khan who was atop a purpose-built truck leading the protest march.

Witnesses said that a participant quickly attempted to overpower the suspected shooter while he was still firing with his automatic weapon and fatally hit a marcher. Police later took the suspected assailant into custody. In a purported video confession later released to reporters, the suspect said his only mission was to kill Khan for “misleading” the public.

PTI leaders, however, questioned the identity of the detained suspect and his subsequent video confession, saying it was an attempt to cover up the assassination plot. They alleged that there was more than one assailant.

“It was a well planned assassination attempt on Imran Khan, the assassin planned to kill Imran khan and leadership of PTI," tweeted Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a central leader of Khan’s party. He said that “it was a burst from automatic weapons” and it was a “narrow escape” for his chief.

The military’s media wing, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement condemned the attack. “Sincere prayers for precious life lost and speedy recovery and well being of Chairman PTI Mr. Imran Khan and all those injured in this unfortunate incident,” said the ISPR.

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