Gunfire on PTI's long march convoy in Wazirabad leaves one killed, seven wounded

Wazirabad: The gunfire on PTI long march convoy left a man dead and party chief and Imran Khan, Senator Faisal Javed and several other party leaders injured at Wazirabad's Allah Wala Chowk on Thursday.

Soon after the firing, the injured were shifted to various hospitals. Khan was admitted to Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Hospital.

Witnesses captured the armed man and handed him over to the police for interrogation.

The attack, characterised by the PTI as "targeted", has triggered widespread condemnation from across the political divide.

The Punjab police confirmed that a party worker, who was in the city to welcome the caravan of Azadi march was killed in the attack. It added that a suspect has been taken into custody from the site.

Senator Javed, who was also wounded and had blood stains on his clothes, told a local news channel from the hospital: "Several of our colleagues are wounded. We heard that one of them is dead."

According to PTI's Imran Ismail, the party chief reportedly "received three to four bullets in his leg" while Javed was grazed by a bullet, according to Hammad Azhar.

"It was a clear assassination attempt. Khan was hit but he’s stable. There was a lot of bleeding," Fawad Chaudhry told Reuters. "If the shooter had not been stopped by people there, the entire PTI leadership would have been wiped out."

Footage on television showed an injured Imran Khan waving to supporters after reportedly being shot and then being carried to his bulletproof pickup truck.

"Don't even think that he will be afraid, he will come back believing in La ilaha illa Allah and with more courage," the PTI said in a tweet.

سوچنا بھی مت کہ وہ ڈر جائے گا وہ لا الہ الااللہ کو ماننے والا اور زیادہ ہمت و جرات سے واپس آئے گا۔ #عمران_خان_ہماری_ریڈ_لائن_ہےpic.twitter.com/MSVZsZrIF9

— PTI Punjab (@PTIPunjabPK) November 3, 2022