Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to keep up his struggle to return to the country's political sphere while delivering his first public speech since being shot in an assassination attempt earlier this month.
"I'm more worried about the freedom of Pakistan than my life," he told a rally in the city of Rawalpindi that neighbors the capital Islamabad on Saturday, adding "I will fight for this country until my last drop of blood."
The rally marked the high point of a "long march" that Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has organized in support of its call for a snap election before the parliament's term expires in October next year.
Khan was voted into power in 2018 on the promise of fighting corruption, and remedying the country's economic woes.
Last month, Pakistan's election commission disqualified him from holding public office for five years on alleged charges of unlawfully selling government gifts he had received from foreign dignitaries and concealing his assets.
"I have seen death from up close," Khan also told the Saturday rally, which was his first public appearance since the attempt on his life in the northeastern city of Wazirabad earlier in November.
Protests break out in Pakistan after Imran Khan assassination attempt
Protests break out in Pakistan after Imran Khan assassination attempt
Protests break out across Pakistan following the abortive assassination attempt against Imran Khan.
Khan has been holding countrywide protests to push the government for early elections ever since being ousted from power. The protests were to culminate in a march to Islamabad, but Khan said on Saturday that he was calling off the protest march toward Islamabad, because he feared it would cause havoc in the country.
"I have decided not to go to Islamabad because I know there will be destruction and the loss will be to the country," Khan said.
The attempt saw a gunman opening fire from close range as Khan's open-top container truck made its way through a crowded street.
Khan has accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and a senior military officer of masterminding the assassination attempt.
The government, however, denies the accusation, saying the attempt against Khan's life was the work of a lone wolf who is now in custody.
Saturday's rally took place two days after the government named a former spymaster as the next military chief.
General Syed Asim Munir's had served as chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency under Khan, but his stint ended after just eight months following a reported falling out.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/11/26/693449/Pakistan-Imran-Khan-address-rally
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
