Imran claims his assailant was ‘trained shooter, not religious fanatic’

Published November 11, 2022
PTI Chairman Imran Khan speaks in an interview on Thursday. — DW screengrab
PTI Chairman Imran Khan speaks in an interview on Thursday. — DW screengrab

PTI chairman Imran Khan has claimed that the assailant who tried to assassinate him in the Wazirabad attack was a “trained shooter” and not a “religious fanatic”.

The PTI chief was injured during a gun attack while leading the party’s long march in Punjab’s Wazirabad on November 3. A PTI supporter, Moazzam Nawaz, was killed in the incident while 14 others, including Imran, were wounded. The suspect was soon after arrested by the police.

In an interview with German International broadcaster DW on Thursday, Imran claimed that his assailant’s profile was already drawn up and did not match that of a religious fanatic. “He was not a religious fanatic, this was a trained shooter,” he added.

The PTI chief also reiterated his claim that there were two shooters, saying that it was “confirmed” that one person was opening fire from the front with “different bullets”.

He repeated his allegation that the government was behind the attack, claiming that he had already known about the plot and that it was concocted two months ago.

Imran accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of being involved in the “Model Town massacre” and extrajudicial killings.

“Killing is not new for them. As for the military intelligence guy, they were in cahoots,” he added. The PTI chairman said the “intelligence guy” was known for and had a background of “bumping off people”.

Imran also claimed that he would be able to provide all the circumstantial evidence for his claims to an investigation. “Whenever there is an independent investigation, these three will be [found] involved,” he added.

Questioned about his long march and demand for fresh elections, Imran said he was doing all that considering the current situation of the country and to save it from a “point of no return”.

He said he would recover in four weeks.

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