Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused his successor of being involved in a plot to kill him as he recovers in hospital from gunshot wounds following an assassination attempt.
Khan told reporters on Friday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who replaced him as prime minister following a no-confidence vote in April, was involved in a plot involving Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior army commander.
These three decided to kill me,” Khan said in his first public appearance since Thursday’s attack, adding that two gunmen were involved.
The government has denied any part and blamed the assassination attempt on a gunman fuelled by “religious extremism”.
The media wing of Pakistan’s military called the allegations “baseless and irresponsible”.
“The government of Pakistan has been requested to investigate the matter and initiate legal action against those responsible for defamation and false accusations against the institution and its officials without any evidence whatsoever,” the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement
Sanaullah rejected the allegations and said the coalition government demanded an independent investigation. Sharif also condemned the shooting and ordered an investigation.
The attack on Khan’s convoy killed one man and wounded at least 10, significantly raising the stakes in a political crisis that has gripped the country since Khan’s toppling in April.
The 70-year-old former international cricket star has been leading a campaign convoy of thousands since last week from Lahore to Islamabad
Sitting in a wheelchair – his right leg in a cast and left leg heavily bandaged – Khan spoke for more than an hour, railing against the government and establishment he has accused of unseating him
Punjab provincial secretary general of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Hammad Azhar, told Al Jazeera that despite what some critics said, the lack of security was not to blame for the shooting .
“It’s not that no precautions were taken. This was a planned assassination attempt on Imran Khan. It was carefully planned and carefully executed,” Azhar said. “There was several security cordons around him.”
Pakistani journalist Hasan Khan told Al Jazeera the former prime minister may have been too hasty in his accusations.
“It’s too early to blame the country’s prime minister, interior minister and senior army officer, but you know what Khan is doing; he is already getting the political capital out of it,” he said.