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'I was hit by four bullets': Wheelchair-bound Imran Khan with leg in cast makes first video address since attack

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 04 Nov 2022, 11:36 pm

Lahore : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said he was hit by four bullets in an assassination attempt by those "using the script of religious extremism" in the country's Punjab's Wazirabad town.

“I got to know the day before the attack that, either in Wazirabad or in Gujrat, they planned to kill me,” Khan claimed in his first video address since the attack from a Lahore hospital.

Elaborating more, he said: “Firstly, they accused me of blasphemy […] they made tapes and released them and the PMLN (one of the ruling parties) projected it. I knew who was doing it." He said it was easy to find out "because this is a digital world."

"So first it was projected that I disrespected religion and then their plan was what they did in Wazirabad […] that 'a religious extremist killed Imran Khan',” he claimed.

One of Khan's supporters died in the attack and at least 13 others, including leaders of his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, were injured in the firing on Thursday.

"I was hit by four bullets," said the former cricket captain as he showed post-surgery stitches on his calf, seated in a wheelchair, dressed in a blue hospital gown, a drip attached to his arm and a cast on a leg, with the national flag in the background.

He said there were two shooters.

Meanwhile, police have so far arrested one man who fired a pistol and two other "suspects".

In a video shared by the police on Thursday, the attacker, who was overpowered and arrested, said he wanted to kill Khan and was not backed by anyone.

"I wanted to kill Imran Khan as he's been misleading the people," he had said on camera.

However, in his address on Friday Khan blamed top leaders specifically current PM Shehbaz Sharif, internal security minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal Naseer, who leads the intelligence agency ISI.

"Four people plotted to kill me. I've made a video in which I've named those people, and have stashed it abroad," he said adding that it would be released if something untoward happens to him.

"How did I find out that they were plotting this? Insiders told me. The day before Wazirabad, they made the plan as they saw the number of people increasing... [They were] using the script of religious extremism," he said.

The government has denied any role and promised a fair probe.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the firing and directed Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to seek an immediate report from the police and administration.

The attack brought back chilling memories of the assassination of another former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto during a rally in 2007.