Just in: Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan shot at rally, several wounded

The former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, was shot in the country’s east on Thursday, wounding him in the process, his aide said.

The attack took place in Wazirabad, about 200 km (120 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.

Khan was travelling in a large convoy of trucks and cars heading towards the capital, Islamabad, as part of his campaign aimed at forcing the government to hold early elections when he was targeted.

Khan was later seen with a bandage on his right leg, just above the foot, according to reports. He was moved to another vehicle from his container truck, from where announcements were being made that he was safe.

“He is being taken to a hospital in Lahore, but he is not seriously wounded. A bullet hit him in the leg,” party official Asad Umar told reporters.

According to a member of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, many of Khan’s colleagues were also wounded.

Reports also have it that one person has been reported dead.

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“A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded. Imran Khan is also injured,” Asad Umar told Reuters.

A senior aide Raoof Hasan said one of the gunmen who shot Khan was killed and another was arrested by police.

“This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him,” Hasan said, adding that one alleged attacker had been shot dead and a second was taken into custody.

Each day, during his so-called “long march”, Khan has mounted a shipping container towed by a truck, making speeches from the open top to crowds of thousands in cities and towns along the way.

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Concerns are rising over the fallout from Khan’s shooting, Asad Ramin Khan, a political analyst based in Lahore, tells Al Jazeera.

“There is a fear that we are seeing over the past several months, post the vote of no confidence which removed Mr Khan from power, that the sequence of events will further gain momentum in terms of instability, in terms of a lot more fear and a lot more political uncertainty as regards next year’s elections.”

A member of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said several colleagues were also wounded amid reports one had been killed.

“A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded,” party official Asad Umar said.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said colleague Faisal Javed also received bullet wounds. Javed, who had bloodstains on his clothes, told Geo TV from the hospital “several of our colleagues are wounded. We heard that one of them is dead”.