Former Prime Minister Imran Khan shot in lower leg in reported assassination attempt in Pakistan

Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot in the leg at a rally Thursday, according to an official from his party, which said the incident was an assassination attempt.

A bullet hit Khan after a gunman opened fire, said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Asad Umar, who later added: “Yes, he has been shot, there are pellets lodged in his leg, his bone has been chipped, he has also been shot in his thigh.”

The former Pakistan cricket captain was taken from the rally site just outside the town of Gujranwala to receive treatment in Lahore, around a two-and-a-half-hour drive away. He is currently out of danger and in a stable condition, Umar added.

Earlier, Senator Fawad Chaudhry, a senior PTI politician and Khan’s former information minister, said Khan was undergoing surgery and six others were injured and still being treated.

A man suspected of firing shots at the rally was detained on Thursday, said police, which added that the male suspect was arrested with a 9mm pistol and two empty magazines.

“We want to know who is behind the incident, which people trained the accused, what is the thinking under which this boy was prepared, how much money he got, where did he get it from,” tweeted Pakistan’s Punjab Chief Minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

At least one person was killed in the incident, according to Faisal Javed, a senior PTI politician and close Khan ally who received a wound to the head in the attack. The victim’s name has not been released.

In a video statement Javed, who can be seen sitting up while receiving treatment, said: “Please pray for us, for Imran Khan, pray for our fellow workers who are severely injured and pray for our party member who has died and is martyred.”

Khan was on the seventh day of a nationwide rally tour calling for elections to be brought forward from August next year.

Protests broke out across Pakistan in support of Khan, including in the capital Islamabad as well as in Peshawar, where approximately 800 protesters gathered, blocking roads for around two hours while holding party flags and chanting slogans against the army and the federal government.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan shot in lower leg in reported assassination attempt in Pakistan © Provided by CNN