Topline
A gunman opened fire on a protest march in Pakistan, shooting former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the leg, according to officials—the latest attack aimed at a Pakistani leader—although the shooter’s identity and motive were not immediately disclosed.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was injured when a gunman opened fire Thursday on an envoy … [+]
Key Facts
Pakistani police said the attack took place in the Wazirabad district in the country’s eastern Punjab province, where Khan’s vehicle was part of a convoy carrying a large group of supporters demonstrating for snap elections, the Associated Press reported—Khan was ousted from office after losing a vote of no confidence in April.
Officials told France’s AFP the attack was an “attempt to kill” Khan—it’s the latest assassination report targeting senior Pakistani officials, following the 2007 killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the 2011 assassination of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer.
Several others were injured in the attack, while Khan was taken to the hospital after a man opened fire with an automatic weapon, according to party official Asad Umar, multiple outlets reported.
A male suspect, who was not immediately identified, has been arrested, Pakistan’s Geo TV reported.
Key Background
Khan launched a protest march from the city of Lahore, in the eastern part of the country, to the capital Islamabad last week, demanding the country hold spot elections after being booted from office in April, after losing a vote of no confidence. He also blamed the United States and Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for carrying out an alleged conspiracy to take over the government—both Sharif and the U.S. have denied those allegations. Thursday’s assassination attempt comes 15 years after a teenage suicide bomber killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was campaigning for her third term, after having previously been removed from power following her election as prime minister in the 1990s. Former Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer was shot by one of his bodyguards in 2011, who reportedly carried out the shooting because Taseer opposed Pakistan’s blasphemy law, the BBC reported, citing a police guard. In 1988, former Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq and 10 of his army generals died in a plane crash, which was later determined to have likely been an act of sabotage committed using explosives.
Tangent
The assassination attempt is the latest attack targeting a senior official in recent months. In July, a gunman killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe while he was campaigning for a party candidate in Nara, Japan, using a homemade gun (political violence is rare in Japan, where handguns are banned). Last week, a man broke into the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), attacking her husband Paul Pelosi, reportedly in hopes of taking the speaker hostage, yelling “Where is Nancy?” Political violence and violent threats have been on the rise in the U.S. in recent months, following the January 6 insurrection, when rioters stormed the Capitol demanding Pelosi and former Vice President Mike Pence overturn the results of the 2020 election, chanting “hang Mike Pence.”
Further Reading
Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan shot and wounded at protest march (BBC)
Official: Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan wounded in gun attack (Associated Press)
Brian Bushard, Forbes Staff
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