Protests erupt after assassination attempt on former Pakistani premier

KARACHI, Pakistan

Protests erupted across Pakistan on Thursday after an assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was leading a march through the capital Islamabad.

Thousands of Khan's supporters took to the streets to protest the attack in small and major cities across the country, including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala and Peshawar.

Footage aired on local broadcasters showed angry protesters burning old tyres and blocking roads, effectively halting traffic in several cities.

Hundreds of charged protesters blocked the main Grand Truck Road, which connects northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province to northeastern Punjab, by burning tyres at different points.

In Karachi, the country's commercial capital, hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters blocked different roads, demanding the arrest of the culprits behind the assassination attempt.

Columns of flames and smoke could be seen billowing upwards as the protesters burned tyres, and other scraps while chanting anti-government slogans.

"Imran Khan is our red line," the protesters chanted in unison as police personnel in riot gear stood by.

Meanwhile, former minister and PTI senior official Fawad Chaudhry rejected the purported confession of the attacker, contending that "the matter is not that simple."

In a statement, he claimed that suicide bombers were hired to kill politicians in the past. "Stop considering the people fools," he added.