A gunman has opened fire at a container truck carrying Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan, wounding him slightly, killing one of his supporters and wounding nine others, a senior leader from his party and police say.
Party official Asad Umar said Khan was wounded in leg and was not seriously hurt.
The identity of the gunman, who was arrested at the scene, was not immediately known. No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting.
According to police, the attack happened in the Wazirabad district in the eastern Punjab province where Khan was traveling in a large convoy of trucks and cars heading towards the capital, Islamabad, as part of his campaign aimed at forcing the government to hold early elections.
District police officer Ghazanfar Ali said one person was killed and nine others were wounded in the attack. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan demanded a report from the police about the incident and condemned the attack.
Fawad Chaudhry, a senior leader from Khan’s party, told the supporters surrounding Khan’s truck that the attack was an attempt on the life of the country’s former premier.
Khan was later seen with a bandage on his right leg, just above the foot, according to reports and a blurry image.
He was moved to another vehicle from his container truck, from where announcements were being made that he was safe.
“He is being taken to a hospital in Lahore, but he is not seriously wounded. A bullet hit him in the leg,” Umar told reporters. According to the Interior Ministry, the government has ordered a probe into the incident.
The attack happened less than a week after Khan began his march from Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, along with thousands of supporters.
The attack raised new concerns about growing political instability in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation with a massive population of 225 million people.
Since he lost a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April, Khan has alleged that his ouster was a conspiracy engineered by his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and the United States — claims that both the new premier and Washington have denied.
Sharif’s government has said there would be no early vote and that the next elections will be held according to schedule, in 2023.
Khan’s latest challenge to the government comes after Pakistan’s elections commission disqualified him from holding public office for five years for allegedly selling state gifts unlawfully and concealing assets as premier.
Khan, who has challenged the disqualification in a pending court case, has said he would sue Chief Election Commissioner Sikandara Raja, who was behind the decision, for calling him a “dishonest person”.
It was also not immediately known if Khan’s convoy would proceed on to Islamabad. Earlier, Fawad Chaudhry, a senior leader in Khan’s party, said they plan to enter Islamabad on Friday.
Pakistan has a history of political assassinations, most notably that of the late Benazir Bhutto, who served twice as prime minister and was assassinated in 2007.
Among the wounded was also Faisal Javed, a lawmaker from Tehreek-e-Insaf. In a video statement, with blood staining his clothes, Javed insisted that Khan’s protest march to Islamabad would not stop.
Khan — a former cricket star turned Islamist politician — has refused to back down from his positions.
The country’s powerful military has said that although Khan had a democratic right to hold a rally in Islamabad, no one will be allowed to destabilise the country. Authorities in Islamabad have already deployed additional security around the city to deter any clashes or violence.
