Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan was shot: What, where and why?

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was wounded when his anti-government protest convoy got here below assault within the east of the nation.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot in his leg at a Wazirabad rally on Thursday.

Listed here are the main points.

What occurred?

  • Khan was shot in his proper shin on Thursday, at 4:21pm native time (11:21 GMT), when his anti-government protest convoy got here below assault. His life was not in peril.
  • A complete of 14 folks had been injured, docs mentioned. Considered one of Khan’s supporters died after sustaining bullet wounds.
  • “This isn't solely an assassination try on Imran Khan however an assault on Pakistan itself,” aide Fawad Chaudhry mentioned on Twitter.
  • Khan was taken to a hospital in Lahore after the assault. A physician mentioned there have been bullet fragments in his leg and his tibia bone was chipped.
  • Earlier, movies circulating on social media confirmed him waving to the group after being evacuated from his car.

The place did it occur?

  • The assault passed off in Wazirabad, almost 200km (124 miles) from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.
  • For the previous week, Khan has been main a protest march to Islamabad to demand snap elections.

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Why did it occur?

  • The identification of the gunman, who was arrested by police, was not instantly made clear. No group has claimed duty.
  • TV channels confirmed a person they mentioned was a suspected shooter who seemed to be in his twenties or thirties. He mentioned he needed to kill Khan and had acted alone.
  • “He [Khan] was deceptive the folks, and I couldn’t bear it,” the suspect mentioned within the video. The data minister confirmed the footage was recorded by police.

What’s the broader context?

  • Khan’s authorities was eliminated in April this 12 months by a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Since then, Khan has been holding rallies throughout the nation, demanding early elections.
  • The parliamentary transfer put him amongst an extended record of elected Pakistani prime ministers who didn't see their full phrases – none has achieved so since independence in 1947.
  • In response, Khan started his “Lengthy March” on October 28 from Lahore. The march was anticipated to succeed in Islamabad on November 11.
  • In keeping with analysts, Khan’s taking pictures underscored rising political instability in Pakistan, with the federal government and the previous chief refusing to again down from their positions.
  • “The query that's being requested time and again is that if we're a parliamentary system, and if that is to be a civilian authorities, then let the electoral course of proceed, let the nation go to common elections,” mentioned Asad Rahim Khan, a political analyst primarily based in Lahore.
  • “And what we're seeing when it comes to the general public’s lack of religion, I worry, can be exacerbated by at present’s assassination try,” he added.
  • Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Pakistan Abid Hussain mentioned: “Whereas Khan himself has been hinting at bloodshed throughout his lengthy march, this assault displays the rising discontentment within the nation.
  • It'll solely improve strain on the federal government, which has been accused by the PTI of desirous to take away Khan by any means crucial.”
  • “Khan has himself mentioned a number of occasions in the previous few months that his life is in peril,” he added.

What occurred to the attacker?

  • Data Minister Murriyam Aurangzeb mentioned police arrested the suspected gunman on the scene.
  • An interrogation was underway, he added.
  • Police additionally cordoned off the scene to hold out forensic work.

What's the newest on the bottom?

  • Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, mentioned “appreciable anger” was mounting within the streets within the aftermath of Imran Khan’s taking pictures.
  • “We're getting preliminary studies of protesters blocking roads, burning tyres, and this might escalate into one thing huge,” he added.
  • Arifa Noor, a political analyst in Pakistan, expressed shock on the assault.
  • “No one anticipated it to be like this, to have gunshots fired at a former prime minister, contemplating, simply again in 2007, we misplaced a highly regarded chief by this sort of violence,” Noor advised Al Jazeera.
  • “Proper now, there may be a right away response from supporters of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf, and it's an aggressive response. However hopefully, as soon as the management recovers from the shock … they are going to attempt to hold their supporters calm and forestall the sort of violence that broke out in Pakistan when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated again in 2007.”

What had been the reactions?

  • Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued an announcement condemning the incident and requested authorities to instantly launch an investigation.
  • The military additionally denounced the taking pictures. “Honest prayers for valuable life misplaced and speedy restoration and wellbeing of Chairman PTI Mr Imran Khan and all these injured on this unlucky incident,” it mentioned in an announcement.
  • “Strongly condemn heinous assassination try on ex-PM of Pakistan, the courageous @ImranKhanPTI,” Pakistan President Arif Alvi mentioned on Twitter.
  • “It’s a growth that simply passed off. We’re intently maintaining a tally of, and we’ll proceed to observe ongoing developments,” Indian exterior affairs ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi mentioned.
  • Former Pakistan Cricket Captain Wasim Akram mentioned he was deeply disturbed whereas calling the nation to face collectively.
  • First spouse Jemima Goldsmith expressed aid on the information that Khan survived the incident. “The information we dread … Thank God he’s okay,” Goldsmith, who lives in the UK, wrote on Twitter.  “And thanks from his sons to the heroic man within the crowd who tackled the gunman.”
  • Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai mentioned violence ought to by no means be acceptable.
  • Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned the assault on Khan and his supporters was “fully unacceptable”.

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