Imran Khan assassination bid: Everything we know about the attack and the assailants

Imran Khan is out of danger after being shot and injured by assailants at a rally in Pakistan’s Gujranwala. Imran, on a container-mounted-truck in Pakistan’s Punjab province during a protest march, was shot in the foot. An aide told AFP an attacker was shot dead, while local media reported that another is in police custody. President Arif Alvi has called the incident a “a heinous assassination attempt”. “I thank Allah that he is safe but injured with few bullets in his leg & hopefully non-critical,” Alvi earlier tweeted. Let’s take a closer look at what we know about the attack: What happened? The incident occurred near Allahwala Chowk of Wazirabad town of Punjab when Imran was leading the protest march. Imran has been leading a march since Friday from the city of Lahore towards the capital, Islamabad, campaigning for fresh elections after being ousted from office in April. Each day during his so-called “long march” 70 year-old Imran has mounted a shipping container towed by a lorry, making speeches from the open top to crowds of thousands in cities and towns along the way. Imran waved to his supporters before being taken away.

  Imran was wounded when shots were fired from the crowd near Gujranwala, his senior aide, Raoof Hasan, told AFP. “This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him,” Hasan said, adding that one alleged attacker had been shot dead and a second taken into police custody. It remains unclear who shot the first assailant dead. What do we know about the attackers? Not much. According to eyewitnesses, a gunman fired on the container-mounted truck carrying Khan from a close range. They said one person has been arrested from the spot and police took him to an unknown location. The attacker, in his early 20s and  wearing salwar-kameez, had been walking along the container and fired from the left side, Geo TV reported. According to local media, the shooter in custody is one Mohammad Naveed.

He was nabbed with a 9 mm gun and two empty magazines.

Naveed, the son of Mohammad Bashir, is a resident of Wazirabad’s Sodhra. Local media said Naveed told police he wanted to kill Imran because “he was misleading the public.” “He (Khan) was misleading the people and I could not bear watching it so I… attempted to kill him,” Dawn newspaper quoted the suspect as saying in a video statement. [caption id=“attachment_11567851” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Naveed Mohammad, the alleged attacker of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan. News18[/caption] “He is doing blasphemy, playing music, and dancing when Azaan happens, I just want to kill Imran Khan. I will not leave him. There is no one behind me. I am alone,” Basheer told the police, as per News18. What about Imran? Geo TV footage showed that 70-year-old being hit in the right leg. He has been shifted to a hospital and he is out of danger, the channel said. ARY News, which is considered as a mouthpiece of Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, confirmed that Imran was out of danger. “Allah has given me another life,” Imran told his close aides in the aftermath of the shooting,  News18 reported. “I know they want to kill me but they don’t know Allah is protecting me. I will fight back.” Sources told News18 Imran is being shifted to Shoukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore. A medical board has been formed under the supervision of Dr Faisal Sultan, former health minister in Imran Khan’s Cabinet, to supervise his treatment.  

Asad Umar, the senior leader of Imran’s party, told ARY News that a bullet hit Imran’s leg.

Umar said, adding that Khan’s opponent couldn’t see Pakistan being transformed. He, however, didn’t blame anyone for the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on 70-year-old cricketer-turned politician. Video footage also showed a PTI worker tackling the attacker from behind and trying to grab the gun of the attacker.

Ibtisam, who tackled the attacker, told the media that he forced the gun of the attacker downward and stopped further damage. “If something tragic had happened to Imran Khan in our area, then we all would have been ashamed,” he said, adding that he was sorry that he could not stop him firing the first shot. Nine injured, one killed PTI’s Imran Ismail, the former governor of Sindh, told the media nine were injured and one person was killed in the attack.

“It was a straight fire (…) the bullet was meant to kill, not scare,” Ismail added.

Among the injured were PTI’s Faisal Javed Khan who was shot in the face, and PTI’s Ahmad Chattha who was shot in the stomach. PTI leader Hammad Azhar said Chattha was injured by two gunshots during an attack on Khan’s convoy. “He [Chattha] is out of danger,” Azhar said, adding that the wounds were not deep and he was being operated upon to remove the bullets. PTI’s Sheikh Imtiaz Mehmood has asked “all workers and the public to immediately reach Liberty Chowk (in Lahore) to protest the cowardly murderous attack on Chairman Imran Khan”. Senior party leader Shahbaz Gill said that “Imran Khan is our red line and an attempt has been made to cross that red line.” He added that Imran would fight till his last breath. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack on Khan and directed Interior Minister for an immediate report on the incident. [caption id=“attachment_11556091” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack on Imran Khan. AFP[/caption] “I pray for the recovery and health of PTI chairman & other injured people. Federal government will extend all support necessary to Punjab govt for security & investigation. Violence should have no place in our country’s politics,” Sharif tweeted. He has instructed Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to seek an immediate report on the incident from the police. Prime Minister Sharif also postponed a press conference on his recent trip to China after the firing incident, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted. Foreign Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari “strongly condemned” the attack on Khan and prayed for his swift recovery. Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari accused the interior minister for the attack and demanded his arrest. “Rana Sana threatened to murder IK & today we saw him attempt that. He should be arrested on attempted murder as his public statement bear witness to same,” she tweeted. She also said: “The string pullers, the Establishment will also be held responsible by the nation for this murderous attack on Imran Khan.” Pakistan has been grappling with Islamist militants for decades, and politicians are frequently targeted by assassination attempts.

In 2007, the nation’s first female leader Benazir Bhutto was slain in a suicide attack which still remains unsolved.

The former international cricket star was booted from office in April by a no-confidence vote after defections by some of his coalition partners, but he retains mass public support in the South Asian country. Imran was voted into power in 2018 on an anti-corruption platform by an electorate tired of dynastic politics. But his mishandling of the economy – and falling out with a military accused of helping his rise – sealed his fate. Since then, he has railed against the establishment and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, which he says was imposed on Pakistan by a “conspiracy” involving the United States. Imran has repeatedly told supporters he was prepared to die for the country, and aides have long warned of unspecified threats made on his life. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .