Imran Khan-led march against Pak govt to resume Tuesday from the same point where he was attacked
Lahore, Nov 6: Imran Khan on Sunday announced that his party will resume the march to Islamabad from the same spot where he survived an assassination attempt but sustained bullet injuries during a rally in Punjab province, saying he prefers "death instead of living the life of a slave".
The 70-year-old former prime minister and Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who underwent surgery for bullet injuries on Thursday was addressing a press conference from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital owned by his charitable organisation.
"We have decided that our march will resume on Tuesday from the same [point] in Wazirabad where I and 11 others were shot, and where Moazzam was martyred," Khan said.
Khan suffered bullet injuries in the right leg when two gunmen fired a volley of bullets at him and others mounting on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area, where he was leading the march.
PTI worker Moazzam Gondal died due to bullet injuries during the attack on Khan. The rally was suspended after the attack.
"I will address the march from here (in Lahore), and our march, within the next 10 to 14 days, depending on the speed, will reach Rawalpindi," Khan said.
The PTI chief said once the march reaches Rawalpindi, he would then join it and lead it himself.
In a veiled reference to the powerful military establishment, Khan said: "They (military establishment) want to instill fear among us. But let me tell you...we will not budge from our stance and are ready to sacrifice our lives for real freedom. I prefer death instead of living the life of a slave."
A day after the attack on him, Khan alleged that three people -- Prime Minister Shehbaz, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal Naseer -- were behind the botched assassination attempt on his life.
The Army has rejected Khan's allegations as "baseless and irresponsible".
Questioning whether "some people" are above the law, the PTI chairman said, "I am facing problems in getting an FIR registered on the firing incident on my container. No Punjab police officer is ready to register an FIR on my complaint. If I, being a former prime minister of Pakistan, cannot get a case registered related to the attack on me, then think what will happen to the common man."
"I want a transparent investigation into the matter. There was a pattern in the attack on me. First, they labelled me a blasphemer and then tried to eliminate me like that of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer.
"The confessional statement of the suspect was recorded and released (to the media) to cover up the crime. Inspector General Police of Punjab lied that the video record of the suspect was hacked. In fact, they (police officers) are afraid to register FIR as they have orders from them (military establishment)," Khan alleged.
Prime Minister Shehbaz in a press conference in Lahore on Saturday said that Khan's party PTI is in power in the Punjab province and the provincial government should tell why the FIR of the assassination attempt has not been registered so far.
Khan also demanded constitution of a judicial commission to investigate the attack on him, the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif, the torture and circulation of obscene video of PTI Senator Azam Swati and the cypher controversy (about toppling of the PTI government at the behest of the United States).
"I wonder if an ISI officer is involved in such dirty acts no action is taken against him. I am surprised at the Director General (Major General Babar Iftikhar) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)'s statement that the institution is standing with its officers, including the one involved in the attack on me. I want to ask him whether there is no black sheep in any institution," Khan said and questioned the DG ISPR to tell why court martial is needed if army officers do not commit any wrong.
He also urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of all the issues he has raised as the nation is looking up to him for justice.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan's former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the protest march led by PTI has only been temporarily halted and not called off.
The Awami Muslim League (AML) president also lamented the fact that a first information report (FIR) of the attack on Khan had not been registered despite the passage of three days.
AML was part of the Imran Khan-led PTI government.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
