Imran Khan named a senior army officer and claimed he was working hand-in-glove with the government to kill the former prime minister
The Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) termed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s allegations baseless after he threatened to release a video which would reveal that there were four people planning to murder him behind closed doors.
In his first remarks after surviving an assassination attempt, Khan told party workers and mediapersons inside the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore that there are two other persons involved and if they would synchronise then he would not have survived.
“Four people plotted to kill me behind closed doors. I’ve a video with me, if something happens to me, the video will be released,” Khan was quoted as saying by news agencies. He also said the video will be sent abroad.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and major general Faisal Naseer were responsible for the attack on him. He did not name the fourth person.
The ISI in a press release responded to the allegations and said ‘allegations by Chairman PTI against the institution and particularly a senior army officer are absolutely unacceptable.’
“The baseless allegations hurled at the institution/officials today are highly regrettable and strongly condemned. No one will be allowed to defame the institution or its soldiers with impunity,” the ISI said.
“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 ISI said.
Pakistan ex-prime minister and the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief has alleged earlier that the army also played a role in his removal from power. “I knew that assassination was being planned against me either in Wazirabad or Gujrat in Punjab province,” Imran Khan said citing ‘insiders’. Khan claimed that he would have been killed like Salman Taseer in 2011 at the hands of a religious extremist.
He also claimed that the plan was to blame him for blasphemy and get him killed at the hands of a religious extremist. He also said that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) was projecting those videos.
He claimed that he sustained four bullet injuries to his leg.
Imran Khan was attacked on Thursday after a person or multiple persons showered a volley of bullets towards his container in Wazirabad area of Punjab province where he was leading a long march to Islamabad to protest against the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his coalition partners.
