Imran Khan says march on Pakistan capital will resume on Tuesday


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Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has said his protest march to Islamabad will go ahead despite an apparent attempt to kill him.

Mr Khan was shot and injured last Thursday as he led an anti-government demonstration towards the capital.

The attack in Wazirabad, in Pakistan's Punjab province, killed one person and left at least 10 others wounded. A man was arrested at the scene.

Mr Khan, 70, was admitted to hospital on Thursday after he received gunshot wounds to his right leg. He had an operation to remove bullet shards and was discharged on Sunday before moving to his ancestral home in Lahore.

Removed in April after a no-confidence vote in parliament, Mr Khan said on Sunday the march would resume on Tuesday, AP reported.

He again demanded an investigation into the shooting as well as the resignation of three powerful personalities in the government and the military whom he alleges were involved in the attack.

He accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan and army general Faisal Naseer of working with the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s spy agency, to orchestrate the shooting.

“These three decided to kill me,” he alleged on Friday at a press conference from hospital.

He said he survived the attack because he fell after being hit in the legs, just as a second gunman fired at him.

The Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, Umar Ata Bandial, ordered the police to register a complaint and begin investigating the incident within the next 24 hours as a necessary legal requirement, according to Mr Khan’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja.

The government has denied the accusations, and blamed the assassination attempt on a lone assailant fuelled by religious extremism.

Mr Sharif offered to resign if any evidence implicated him in the attack. He has also asked the country’s chief justice to investigate.

The military called Mr Khan's accusations “baseless and irresponsible” and said it was taking legal action against him.

Mr Khan organised a march on Islamabad to pressure Mr Sharif’s government to hold early elections, but the prime minister has said elections will take place as scheduled next year.

Mr Khan led an initial protest march in May but it ended when supporters clashed with police in the capital.

He has been calling for an early election since he was ousted from office in April.

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Updated: November 07, 2022, 11:02 AM