On 3 November 2022,

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

, former

prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pa ...

and chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party, was shot in an assassination attempt in

Wazirabad Wazirabad (Urdu/ pa, ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Wazirabad District. Famous for its cutlery products, it is known as the city of cutlery and is also quite famous for its foods. Wazirabad is situated on the banks of t ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, during the 2022 Azadi March II against the

Pakistan government The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territories ...

. The gunman also injured a number of other PTI leaders and killed a supporter.

Background

Ousting of Imran Khan

A political crisis began in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in 2022 when the opposition

Pakistan Democratic Movement The Pakistan Democratic Movement ( ur, پاکستان ڈیموکریٹک موومنٹ), or PDM, is a coalition of political parties in Pakistan. It was founded in September 2020 as a movement against then prime minister Imran Khan, accusing his ...

tabled a

no-confidence motion against Imran Khan In April 2022, a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan led to his removal as the prime minister of Pakistan. Based largely on the Westminster system of legislature, the prime minister commands confidence of the majority of the lower house ...

. The crisis involved a constitutional crisis when President

Arif Alvi Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi (; born 29 July 1949) is a Pakistani dentist and politician currently serving as the 13th President of Pakistan, in office since 9 September 2018. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2013 to May 2 ...

dissolved

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

on Khan's recommendation. The Supreme Court reinstated the parliament and Khan lost the no-confidence motion, being succeeded by current prime minister

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of ...

. Khan has blamed his ousting on an " American conspiracy", calling the current administration an "imported government".

2022 Azadi March-II

The 2022 Azadi March-II is a march on

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

from

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

which commenced on 28 October 2022, conducted by Khan and his supporters to protest the government's refusal to hold early elections.

Assassination attempt

On 3 November 2022, while Khan was giving a speech in Wazirabad, Punjab, to his supporters, shots were fired by a gunman at Khan's container-mounted-truck. According to an aide of Khan, the truck was fired at six times. A Khan supporter by the name of Ibtisam tried to tackle the gunman. Khan was shot in the shin and thigh on the right leg and was transferred to

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre ( ur, , abbreviated as SKMCH&RC/SKMCH) is a cancer centre with locations in Lahore and Peshawar, Pakistan. It is the first project of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charitabl ...

in Lahore, where he underwent treatment. His doctor, Faisal Sultan, said that X-rays and scans showed bullet fragments lodged in Khan's legs, and that his

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

was fractured. A leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said that his condition was stable. In the hospital, Khan met Ibtisam, the person who tried to tackle the gunman. Khan gave Ibtisam his thanks and an autograph. In total, nine people were injured, including Khan and Senator Faisal Javed Khan, and one killed.

Suspects

The Punjab Police announced that they had arrested the gunman who had shot Khan, identifying him as Muhammad Naveed. In a video shared by the police, the suspect stated that he shot Khan as he was "spreading hatred and misleading the people", as well as making "blasphemous and anti-religion" remarks. He also stated that he was upset that Khan's march had been playing music and had been dancing during the

Azaan Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mosq ...

. He added that he was acting on his own and only wanted to kill Khan. The video was dismissed by Khan's allies as a "cover-up". The Punjab Police on 5 November stated that Naveed was a drug addict and the veracity of his statements was questionable. Two other suspects were later arrested and identified as Waqas and Faisal Butt. The two were accused of providing an unlicensed pistol to Naveed for the attack, as well as selling other pistols and bullets to him for

Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

20,000. Two

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a centre-right and liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Part ...

activists named Mudassir Nazir and Ahsan Ali were arrested for their social media posts in January 2023, along with Tayyab Butt who was accused of helping Naveed obtain the pistol.

Reactions

Domestic

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack on Khan "in the strongest words", praying for the recovery of Khan and the other people who were injured, and saying, "I have directed Interior Minister for an immediate report on the incident." He also said that the federal government would provide all necessary support to the provincial government in

in security and investigation. The

Pakistani military The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

condemned the attack and offered "sincere prayers for precious life lost and speedy recovery of Khan". The following politicians have also denounced the attack: * Foreign minister

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ( ur, بلاول بھٹو زرداری; born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office since 27 April 2022. He became the chairman of Pakistan Peop ...

vice-president

Maryam Nawaz Maryam Nawaz Sharif ( Punjabi and ; born 28 October 1973), also known as Maryam Safdar, is a Pakistani politician and the daughter of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. She was initially involved in the family's philanthropic orga ...

leader and former prime minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

* PPP co-chairman

Asif Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakista ...

JUI-F Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (Fazl) also Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Urdu: ; ; JUI-F) is a Deobandi Sunni political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is the result o ...

Ameer &

president

Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman ( ur, مولانا فضلُرحمٰن; born 19 June 1953) is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist politician who is the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F). He is also the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement ...

PTI members Asad Umar and Mian Aslam released a statement, saying that Khan has asked them to issue it on his behalf. They said that Khan "believes there are 3 people on whose behest this was done – Shehbaz Sharif,

Rana Sanaullah Rana Sanaullah Khan (Punjabi, ur, born 1 January 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 39th Interior Minister of Pakistan. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. He is a senior member of PML-N an ...

and Major General Faisal Naseer". He said he was receiving information and is saying this on that basis. One day after Khan was shot, he stated "I will give a call to march on Islamabad once I get better".

International

* : Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

called the attack "completely unacceptable", saying that violence "has no place in politics, in any democracy, or in our society". He sent his condolences to the family of the deceased political worker who died during the incident. * : The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attempted assassination and wished Khan a speedy recovery from his injuries in a statement. * : A spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said that his country is "closely keeping an eye" on developments in Pakistan. * : Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman

Nasser Kanaani Nasser Kanaani ( fa, ناصر کنعانی) is an Iranian diplomat and the 13th spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran since June 27, 2022. He was also the head of Iran's interests protection office in Cairo from July 2018 to July 2 ...

condemned the assassination attempt against Khan and wished a speedy recovery. * : The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the attack on Khan. * : The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the assassination attempt against Khan. * : The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the assassination attempt against Khan. * : The Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered their condolences to Khan and the family of the one Pakistani killed in the attack, stressing the importance of "peace and stability nPakistan" in a statement. * : The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the assassination attempt against Khan. In a statement, it said, "UAE expresses its strong condemnation of these criminal acts that aim to destabilize security and stability, and are inconsistent with humanitarian values and principles." * : The

Minister of State for Asia, Energy, Climate and Environment Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment is a mid-level position in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the British government. History The office was known as Minister of State for ...

and Khan's former brother-in-law,

Zac Goldsmith Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment s ...

, called the attack "appalling" and said, "Imran Khan is strong and will soon be back on his feet." * : The

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

strongly condemned the attack on Khan.

References

{{Imran Khan 2022–2023 Pakistan political unrest 2022 crimes in Pakistan 2022 in Pakistani politics 2022 in Punjab, Pakistan 2022 mass shootings in Asia 2020s crimes in Punjab, Pakistan Failed assassination attempts in Asia Imran Khan Mass shootings in Pakistan November 2022 crimes in Asia November 2022 events in Pakistan