It is not clear whether Imran was targeted, though Pakistani TV channels aired footage that amounted to a confession from the alleged gunman who said Imran was the target. Imran, 70, was leading a protest rally on to the capital Islamabad, demanding general elections after he was ousted from power in April this year.
Imran – one of the game’s great allrounders who led Pakistan to their 1992 World Cup win – was standing atop a large container truck with other party officials when shots were fired, forcing them to duck for cover. TV footage showed Imran with a bandage on his right leg, just above the foot. He was moved to another vehicle and eventually taken to hospital.
“He is being taken to a hospital in Lahore, but he is not seriously wounded,” Asad Umar, a party leader, told reporters. “A bullet hit him in the leg.”
The attack happened less than a week after Imran began his march from Lahore along with thousands of supporters. Imran was elected prime minister of Pakistan in August 2018. But he faced a no-confidence motion from parliament earlier this year and was forced out, since when he has been leading a series of protest marches.