- Imran Khan, until recently the leader of Pakistan, was shot on Thursday.
- His political party said he was shot in the leg, and he was stable while he was taken to hospital.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot on Thursday as he led a political march against the administration that replaced him.
Khan's political party, PTI, said Khan "was shot in the leg but was stable while being taken to hospital." It described the attack as an "assassination attempt."
Shehbaz Sharif, the country's current prime minister confirmed that he was shot, and said other people were also injured.
Sharif condemned the shooting and said it would be investigated.
He said other people were also injured, and wrote "Violence should have no place in our country's politics."
PTI shared a video that it said shows Khan, who is 70, waving to supporters after he was shot. It shows him standing and waving while an armed guard stands in front of him.
Watch the video here:
—PTI (@PTIofficial) November 3, 2022
Asad Umar, an aide for Khan, told Reuters that Khan and several other people were injured in the shooting. He said Khan was injured in his shin.
"A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded. Imran Khan is also injured," he said. There was no further information on who the man was.
Sky News reported that Khan was shot in the leg while speaking to supporters. One of its reporters was in the crowd and witnessed the attack.
Local media reported that he was shot in the foot, and that he was "out of danger," Reuters reported. Those reports said he was wounded when his convoy was shot at, according to Reuters.
Khan was in Wazirabad, leading a protest march to Islamabad as part of efforts to call new elections in the country, according to Sky News.
This video, shared by Khan on Tuesday, showed the scale of an earlier rally:
—Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 2, 2022
Khan, who is now the chairman of the country's PTI political party, had been prime minister a little less than four years when he was ousted in April after losing a parliamentary no-confidence vote.
He tried to block the vote, but was overruled by the country's Supreme Court and removed from office.
Khan claimed, without evidence, that he was the victim of an international US-led conspiracy to remove him, and called on his supporters to take to the streets in marches like the one on Thursday, demanding new elections.
The US has said that there is no truth to the allegations. It was widely believed that Khan had lost the support of the military, a major power-broker behind the scenes of Pakistani politics.
Earlier this month Pakistan's election commission barred Khan from holding office for five years over allegations that he failed to declare and sold some gifts given to him while in office. Khan denied all of the charges.