PTI’s rally attacked in Swabi

At least one person was killed and 16 others, including eight policemen and women, sustained injuries on Friday when suspected militants lobbed grenades and fired at a police truck soon after cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan addressed possibly the largest rally in the Swabi’s history.

The attackers hurled two grenades and fired with automatic weapons at the truck at Swabi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, police officials said. The PTI chief had left the area after addressing the rally and was not near the site of the attack, witnesses stated.

An eyewitness observed, “I heard an explosion, after which policemen jumped out of their vehicle. There was another explosion and thick smoke enveloped the scene.”

Thousands of PTI followers gathered at the Shewa Adda area, outnumbering by almost twice the 20,000 seats arranged by arrangers.

According to the media reports, the policemen were returning to their vehicle when the attack took place. The van belonged to the Mardan police, Ashfaq said. “The critically injured have been shifted to Mardan and Swabi.”

Earlier addressing the crowd, Imran Khan said his party, if voted to power, would shoot down US spy planes. The rulers should be embarrassed of the ongoing drone strikes that violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and kill innocent people, he added.

The PTI chief asserted, “We will not let the US fire even a single missile and if it does, our government will resign; we will shoot down their drones.” He was of the opinion that his rivals were afraid of the PTI tsunami.

He alleged that both Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) and Asif Ali Zardari (PPP) have foreign bank accounts and the money in these accounts belongs to poor Pakistanis.

Imran vowed to hold every corrupt person answerable and free the country’s people from the US bondage. “We won’t beg for loans, we will generate our own funds,” he added.

He termed Nawaz Sharif a hidden supporter of President Zardari, adding he said Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Asfandyar Wali Khan were also helping him stay in power.

He also made predictions about his party’s achievement in his characteristic cricketing analogies, saying even if the PML-N, PPP and JUI-F unite, “The PTI will bowl them out on the first ball.”

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Feb 11 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.