Imran Khan opens up on assassination attempt: ‘I’m so very lucky to be alive’

Imran Khan: Imran Khan said he “thanked the Almighty that I was saved”.

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan said he is “so very lucky” to be alive after an assassination attempt was carried out on him earlier this month. In a new interview with The Times, Imran Khan said he “thanked the Almighty that I was saved”.

Imran Khan: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. (AP)

“I shouldn't have really survived that. I'm so very lucky to be alive,” he said.

Imran Khan was shot in the shin on November 3 while on a rally, after his anti-government protest convoy came under attack from a shooter who opened fire. A supporter of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party who was taking part in the rally was killed and more than a dozen others were wounded.

Imran Khan and his party were forced to pause the long march that was organised to pressure prime minister Shehbaz Sharif‘s government to hold early elections after the former international cricketer was ousted from office in April.

Imran Khan asserted his eagerness to return to the campaign trail, despite an intelligence report filed before the court, claiming another attempt could be carried out at his life.

Reiterating his position, Imran Khan said in his latest interview that the “architects” of the attack are “still in powerful positions” and claimed this was not the first attempt on his life.

He said that, while travelling to the flood-affected areas of Pakistan earlier in September, his helicopter had to make an emergency landing and claimed that the pilots had said “the fuel was tampered with”.