Pakistan: Ex-prime minister Imran Khan shot and wounded in Wazirabad

Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has survived a gun assault on his convoy while holding a protest march in the eastern city of Wazirabad.

He was wounded in the leg when a burst of gunfire hit his vehicle. One person was killed and at least five others were injured.

There was no immediate official comment on the motive for the attack which allies say was an assassination bid.

Chief minister of Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has said that it initially appeared that there were two assailants.

Elahi, whose office is in the province in which Khan’s party is in power and where the shooting occurred, said he was forming a joint investigation team.

Witnesses reported having heard gunfire before the man who was later arrested opened fire.

“I heard a burst of bullet shots after which I saw Imran Khan and his aides fall down on the truck,” witness Qazzafi Butt told Reuters.

“Later, a gunman shot a single shot but was grabbed by an activist of Khan’s party.”

The protest march had been called to demand early elections.

Mr Khan, 70, was leading the march, which was meant to end in the capital Islamabad.

The former international cricket star turned politician was seen being taken to a hospital in Lahore. A party spokesman said he had been hit in the shin.

He was in a stable condition, said an official from his PTI party, provincial health minister Yasmeen Rashid.

Police released a video confession of a man they arrested who they say had attempted to kill the former prime minister.

It is unclear under what conditions the interview was carried out but in it the man is asked by police why he opened fire, and replies: “He was misguiding the people. I wanted to kill him. I tried to kill him.”

Video footage from the scene shows Mr Khan and his supporters on a shipping container being towed by a lorry before a burst of gunfire is heard. Mr Khan is then seen ducking, as those around him try to cover him.

Another video shows a conscious Mr Khan with a bandage on his right leg being taken away in a vehicle after the shooting.

A PTI member is also seen with a bandage on his face and blood on his clothing, saying that people should pray for Mr Khan and all those injured.

“This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him,” Mr Khan’s senior aide Raoof Hasan told AFP news agency.

First wife Jemima Goldsmith has expressed relief at the news that Khan survived a shooting incident and extended her family’s gratitude to the man who tackled the attacker, potentially saving the former prime minister’s life.

“The news we dread … Thank God he’s okay,” Goldsmith, who lives in the UK, wrote on Twitter. “And thank you from his sons to the heroic man in the crowd who tackled the gunman.”

Hero 🙏🏼🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/mqTXPdWxjH

— Jemima Goldsmith (@Jemima_Khan) November 3, 2022

Current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the shooting and ordered an immediate investigation. President Arif Alvi said the incident was a “heinous assassination attempt”.

A local journalist, Zoraiz Bangash, who saw the attack told the BBC: “It all started when [Mr] Khan was leading the rally and all of a sudden there were gunshots heard and the moment we all realised there was person seen with a pistol, a 9mm pistol and the moment he fired some shots which unfortunately landed on some of the PTI leadership and [Mr] Khan who was shot in the leg.

“And the person was apprehended by a PTI supporter who was standing next to him. The person was arrested and was taken away.”

Mr Khan has been leading a protest march – the second such rally this year – for the past seven days, calling for new elections.

The government has repeatedly said it will hold elections next year, as planned.

Last month, Pakistan’s election commission disqualified Mr Khan from holding public office in a case described by the former star cricketer as politically motivated.

He had been accused of incorrectly declaring details of gifts from foreign dignitaries and proceeds from their alleged sale. The gifts included Rolex watches, a ring and a pair of cuff links.

Pakistan has a long history of deadly political violence.

In the most high-profile case, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at a public rally in 2007.