Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan shot in suspected assassination attempt

Kieran Francis

Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan shot in suspected assassination attempt image

Pakistan cricket legend and former prime minister Imran Khan has been shot in a suspected assassination attempt in the north of the country.

Khan was shot in the shin while travelling in a vehicle during a political rally in Wazirabad, around 200km south of Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

The 70-year-old was rushed to hospital where he is in a stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.

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Footage from the rally shows Khan exposed on top of a vehicle before shots were heard and chaos ensued, with the fast bowling icon ducking and being shielded by aides.

During the vision, a member of the public was seen wrestling with a man holding a pistol and he explained his intervention caused the shots to be inaccurate.

"He loaded the magazine and was preparing to fire. I approached him when he shot one bullet in the air,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

"I pulled at him, which caused his aim to go awry. He then tried to run away, but people went after him and we managed to stop him.”

A lone man has been arrested for carrying out the attack, but there has been suggestions from Khan's camp that two assailants were involved.

According to reports, the alleged gunman admitted to pulling the trigger and outlined his reasons.

“(Khan) was misleading the people, and I couldn’t bear it so I attempted to kill him," the arrested man reportedly said.

“I tried my best to kill him. I wanted to kill Imran Khan only and no one else."

Khan was Pakistan's prime minister from August 2018 until April 2022 when he was removed from office by a no-confidence motion after being accused of accepting gifts from foreign officials.

The former leader himself has suggested the United States ousted him from power - but hasn't provided any proof of his accusations.

Khan was a former captain of Pakistan's cricket team at both Test and one-day international level - leading the team to victory at the 1992 World Cup.

The fast bowler played 88 Tests for Pakistan, taking 362 wickets, and his bowling average of 22.81 is one the lowest of all-time.

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.