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Massive protests erupt in Pakistan after 'assassination' bid on Imran Khan

Thousands of Khan's supporters take to streets to protest what his aides and the country's president say was "a clear assassination attempt" by his rivals.

AFP

Footage aired on local broadcasters shows angry protesters burning old tyres and blocking roads, effectively halting traffic in several cities.

Protests have erupted across Pakistan after an "assassination attempt" on former prime minister Imran Khan, who was leading a march through the capital Islamabad.

Anger poured on streets after a gunman opened fire at a protest rally in eastern Pakistan on Thursday, slightly wounding Khan in the leg and killing one of his supporters, his party and police said. Nine other people also were wounded.

Thousands of Khan's supporters immediately took to the streets to protest the attack in small and major cities across the country, including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala and Peshawar.

Footage aired on local broadcasters showed angry protesters burning old tyres and blocking roads, effectively halting traffic in several cities.

Reuters

Protests are also reported in Pakistan's commercial hub Karachi.

Hundreds of charged protesters blocked the main Grand Truck Road, which connects northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province to northeastern Punjab, by burning tyres at different points.

In Karachi, the country's commercial capital, hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters blocked different roads, demanding the arrest of the culprits behind the assassination attempt.

Columns of flames and smoke could be seen billowing upwards as the protesters burned tyres, and other scraps while chanting anti-government slogans.

AA

Angry protesters held protests in Lahore as well.

'Red-line'

"Imran Khan is our red-line," the protesters chanted in unison as police personnel in riot gear stood by.

Meanwhile, former minister and PTI senior official Fawad Chaudhry rejected the purported confession of the attacker, contending that "the matter is not that simple."

In a statement, he claimed that suicide bombers were hired to kill politicians in the past. "Stop considering the people fools," he added.