Imran Khan assassination bid: Pakistan army denies allegations by former PM

Imran Khan, who has been leading an anti-government protest march to the capital for almost a week, survived a gun attack on Thursday.

Pic Credit: PTI

Islamabad: Pakistan military called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan`s allegations against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and a major of the Army for plotting his assassination as "baseless and irresponsible." Pakistani military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement issued in this regard, said that the "baseless and irresponsible allegations by PTI chief against the institution and particularly a senior army officer are absolutely unacceptable and uncalled for," Dawn reported.

Imran Khan shot at anti-government march

Imran was shot on Thursday evening when he was at his container when his party`s `Haqeeqi Azadi` march reached Wazirabad`s Allahwala Chowk. The former premier has held Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior intelligence official as being responsible for the bid to assassinate him and demanded their resignations. PTI senior leader Umar Asad has demanded that all three people -- the premier, the interior minister, and the senior military officer -- should be removed from their offices.

Addressing the nation for the first time since the assassination attempt earlier today, Imran described the attack in Wazirabad. He especially urged Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to hold the "black sheep" in his institution accountable.

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"What happened in East Pakistan. The largest party that won, they took action against it...', says Imran Khan as he draws parallels between 1971 & 2022 in his country. pic.twitter.com/GPRDGiFPyk — Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) November 4, 2022

Meanwhile, the Punjab police have confirmed that seven people were injured and a person was killed during the firing incident. As per the police, the deceased has been identified as Muazzam Nawaz. The suspected shooter who opened fire during the rally was caught by Punjab police where he admitted that he wanted to kill Imran Khan because "he was misleading the public."

"I thought of this as there was Azaan going on and on the other side, Imran Khan is taking out his container and making noise. My conscience did not approve of this. I decided this suddenly... I conspired against Imran Khan when he kicked off his long march from Lahore. I made up my mind that I will not leave him alive," the shooter said according to a video shared on social media.

Responding to whether there was someone else in the conspiracy, the shooter said, "I have conspired this alone and no one else is involved in this. I came on a bike and I parked it at my uncle`s shop. He has a motorcycle showroom."

Hours after the assassination attempt against Imran Khan, people held protests in front of the Corps Commander House in Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in an inflammatory address on Friday shifted the blame of the assassination attempt on PTI chief Imran Khan onto the former prime minister for what he described as "crossing the red lines of religion", the dawn reported.

He expressed these views during the National Assembly (NA) centering on yesterday`s assassination attempt on the former prime minister, which he alleged was being used to further "political objectives".

Imran, who has been leading an anti-government protest march to the capital for almost a week, survived a gun attack on Thursday in Punjab`s Wazirabad. He sustained a wound in his shin when the container was hit by a volley of bullets.