This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Pakistan’s interior minister has been injured in a suspected assassination attempt during an election rally in Punjab province.



Ahsan Iqbal, 59, was shot in the right shoulder after he addressed a crowd in the town of Narowal.

A suspect was arrested at the scene and was being interrogated by police on Sunday night.

Iqbal’s son, Ahmad, told Geo News his father was conscious and out of danger after being airlifted to hospital. The chief minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif, condemned the attack and said Iqbal was “in high spirits”.

The Pakistani prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, demanded a report on the incident from the provincial police chief.

The shooting is likely to increase political tensions before general elections expected in late July.

Iqbal took charge of the interior ministry last year and has been in the cabinet since Abbasi’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party (PML-N) came to power in 2013. He is also the minister for planning, development and reforms.