PTI leader Fawad Chauhdry said the attempt on Imran Khan’s life was planned in advance, while also disputing the claim that the assassin was armed with a pistol. “It was not [fired from] a 9mm but a burst from a an automatic weapon,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, PTI’s Senator Ejaz Chaudhry said that they had informed authorities concerned about the impending attack but no action was taken.

“Last night, I called Ahmed Chattha from Lahore and told him about the conspiracy. I told him that there would be an assassination attack on Khan at Wazir Abad Chowk. A plan is already in place,” he said.

He added that Chattha, who was shot in the stomach during the assassination attempt, had conveyed the details of the threat to the regional police officer but they failed to make adequate arrangements for the safety of the PTI marchers.

Meanwhile, Asad Umar tweeted that the attack was a cowardly attempt to stop Imran from reaching his destination.

“When they could not stop him, the cowards tried to kill him,” he tweeted.

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed labelled the attack on Imran Khan an attack on the security and democracy of Pakistan. “It is a conspiracy to trigger civil war in the country,” the veteran politician said in a video message in the aftermath of the assassination attempt targeting the PTI chief during the Azadi March in Wazirabad Thursday.

“This is an attack on Pakistan’s democracy,” said Rashid.

He said that the country’s interior minister Rana Sanaullah had already suggested that there would be bloodshed during the march. He urged PTI supporters not to take the law in their own hands while assuring people of justice. “They will not be allowed to run away. They will be face the law.”

Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi called the firing incident an attempt to give the impression that the PTI protest march was a threat to security.