ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has sustained a bullet injury in his leg, according to sources, after shots were fired at a rally in Gujranwala in an apparent assassination attempt.
Azhar Mashwani, an official with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, confirmed to Al Jazeera that the politician was shot in the leg but was not in danger.
Khan was taken to a hospital in Lahore.
“This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him,” said a senior aid to AFP news agency.
A male suspect was later arrested, according to Pakistan’s Geo TV.
Last month, the Pakistan’s election commission disqualified ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan from being a member of parliament, after finding him guilty of “corrupt practices” in a unanimous decision.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party immediately rejected Friday’s ruling, challenging the commission’s jurisdiction of delivering such a verdict, as Aljazeera reported. It said it would file an appeal to the Islamabad High Court and called on supporters to take to the streets.
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On Friday, ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, including thousands of supporters, started a long-promised march from Lahore’s Liberty Chowk to Pakistani capital Islamabad, challenging Shahbaz Sharif’s government and demands for early elections.
Roughly 10,000 demonstrators left easter city of Lahore Friday. A huge number of people piled into hundreds of trucks and cars, while many others marched on foot.
The convoy’s route — known as the Grand Trunk Road — covers a distance of 300 kilometers (187 miles) and is expected to include frequent stops, with political speeches and rallies in towns and urban areas along the way, as the Arab News reported.
Addressing supporters before the departure from Lahore, Khan described the endeavor as a “peaceful march” and claimed his political struggle against the government would continue until Sharif’s administration agrees to hold early elections.
But the government has repeatedly said the elections will be held as scheduled, in 2023.
Meanwhile, Khan maintains his ouster in a parliament no-confidence vote in April was unlawful, and a conspiracy by his political opponents orchestrated by the United States. However, both Washington and Pakistan’s new Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, denied.
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