The Pakistan Army has dismissed as «absolutely unacceptable» statements by former Prime Minister Imran Khan in which he accused Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif, Interior Minister and an Army commander of involvement in the «assassination attempt» he suffered this week.
In a press release issued Friday, the Armed Forces point out that «the unfounded and irresponsible accusations of the chairman of the Justice Movement against the institution and in particular against a senior Army officer are absolutely unacceptable and unnecessary.»
The military body prides itself in the statement on being an «extremely professional and well-disciplined» organization with a «robust and highly effective» internal accountability system that would be applied to illegal acts committed by uniformed personnel.
Thus, they have condemned the allegations made by Khan and requested the Government to initiate legal action against those responsible for defamation and false accusations against the institution and its officers without any proof.
In a televised speech from the hospital, Khan has maintained that he knew in advance that there was a plan to kill him and has pointed to the three men as the masterminds of the plan to end his life. He called on his supporters to protest against them «until they resign from their posts.
According to his own account of the events, the former prime minister described that there were at least «two shooters» and that he fell to the ground when he received the first volley of gunfire. One of the attackers, who was arrested, identified himself as an extremist, but «he was not an extremist at all» but was part of a «plan behind the attack», he said.
The event took place after Jan called for a «long march» to achieve «real freedom», in the context of his pulse with the current prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, to whom he demands early elections. Jan, who in April became the first Pakistani president to be ousted in a no-confidence motion, was disqualified at the end of October by the electoral commission for not having declared the money from the sale of gifts and presents received from international leaders when he was at the head of the government.
His departure from office was followed by a growing political tension marked by scandals of transfuguism and massive protests in favor and against the Prime Minister, denounced by the opposition alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as a «puppet» of the Army. The Armed Forces are considered to be the most powerful force in Pakistan since its independence from the British Raj in 1947.
