Pakistan opposition protests after Khan injured in assassination bid

Islamabad, Nov 4 (EFE).- Pakistan’s opposition Friday called for nationwide protests a day after ex-prime minister Imran Khan suffered wounds in an alleged assassination bid that killed one person and injured several others.

“There will be countrywide protests across the country after Friday prayers,” Khan’s close aide and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Asad Umar tweeted.

Khan was slightly injured in the leg after a shooter opened fire on a crowded rally on Thursday.

The politician has alleged that it was an assassination bid plotted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and intelligence official Major General Faisal Naseer.

“He (Khan) believed three people have done this and those three are Shehbaz Sharif, Rana Sanaullah, and Major General Faisal,” PTI leader Assad Umar said in a video message late on Thursday.

He said Khan demanded the ouster of the three from their offices, warning that the pan-Pakistan protests would continue until then.

Sanaullah rejected the allegations and told reporters that the federal government was for an independent and high-powered investigation.

Sharif condemned the shooting and ordered a probe.

Khan was ousted as prime minister after he lost a parliamentary confidence vote in April.

Since then, he has spearheaded many protest rallies to pressure the government for early elections.

On Thursday, the cricketer-turned-politician was leading a long march from Lahore to Islamabad to reiterate his demand as he alleges that Prime Minister Sharif colluded with foreign powers, including the United States, to oust him.

Khan’s supporters held protests on Thursday night as demonstrators blocked several big and small highways and roads in multiple cities.

Some protesters reportedly gathered outside the residence of Corps Commander Peshawar Lieutenant General Sardar Hassan Hayat, a rare demonstration.

Shireen Mazari, a senior PTI leader, shared a video from the demonstration.

A district administration statement denied that the protests were held outside the home of the army commander.

Video clips showed a shooter with a pistol grabbed from behind by a man at the rally in Wazirabad of the eastern Punjab province.

People captured the suspect before police took him into custody after the angry mob started beating him.

In a confessional video statement leaked on social media, the suspected shooter said he wanted to kill Khan as he was misleading people.

“He (Khan) was misleading the people, and I couldn’t bear it,” the suspect said in the video.

The shooter claimed he acted alone.