Protests erupt in Pakistan after 'assassination' attempt on Imran Khan

Protests erupted in different parts of Pakistan after former prime minister Imran Khan was shot at during a rally in Wazirabad.

His supporters gathered outside the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore where Khan is being treated for the bullet injuries he sustained in his right leg.

People chanted slogans, brought flowers and cards for the 70-year-old former cricketer.

In Karachi too members of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party took to the streets and held sit-in protests against the attack on their leader.

Imran Khan's supporters blocked roads and burnt tyres in Peshawar and Rawalpindi as well.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was in stable condition after being shot in the leg at a political rally on Thursday in what the country's president deemed "a heinous assassination attempt".

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The former international cricket star has been leading a chaotic convoy of thousands since Friday from the city of Lahore towards the capital, Islamabad, campaigning for fresh elections after being ousted from office in April.

"This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him," senior aide, Raoof Hasan, told AFP.

Khan escaped with a bullet wound to his right calf, while several of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party officials were also hit by the spray of gunfire aimed at their modified container truck as it slowly drove through a thick crowd near Gujranwala.

"Everyone who was standing in the very front row got hit," former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, who was standing behind Khan, told AFP.

He said supporters in the crowd tried to snatch the gun from the attacker. "In that scuffle he missed the target."

A video captures the crack of gunfire as Khan and his team duck behind banners tied around the edge of the container.

(with AFP inputs)