Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and four others were injured today after a gunman hit their vehicle in eastern Pakistan as he was leading a protest march against the current government.

“Thank God, Imran Kham is alive,” said Azhar Mashwani, a top leader of Pakistan’s Tehree-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Twitter, indicating that the former chief executive was wounded in the foot and that he is “stable and without danger to life”.

The apparent shooter, according to the news agency France-Presse (AFP) was, however, shot down, while a second person, who was allegedly with the shooter, was detained by Pakistani police.

Raoof Hassan, adviser to the PTI leader, said it was an assassination attempt” on Khan, whose government fell in April following a motion of censure.

Since Friday, Khan has led a “long march” to the capital Islamabad, demanding early elections.

The apparent attack took place in the Wazirabad district in the eastern province of Punjab.

Khan was later seen with a bandage on his foot and was transferred to another vehicle, leaving the truck with a container from which a party spokesman said the former prime minister was safe and well.

The attack came less than a week after Khan began a march in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, which drew thousands of supporters.

The overthrow of the Khan government, as he has defended it since, was a conspiracy engineered by his successor, Shahbaz Sharif, and the United States, allegations that both the new prime minister and Washington have denied.

Source: With Agencies