ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Monday tightened security around former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the home ministry said, two days after he claimed at a rally in the eastern Punjab province that there was a plot to assassinate him.
In his speech at a rally in Sialkot on Saturday, Khan did not elaborate on the alleged conspiracy against him but claimed that he had recorded a video message in which he gave all the details.
Khan’s supporters have rallied across the country since last month, when he was ousted by his opposition in a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly. He was replaced by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
On Monday, Sharif also ordered maximum security measures for Khan, according to a separate government statement.
Khan lost power in early April after leaving his party allies and a key ally in the coalition. Since his ouster, he has called for new elections, claiming that Sharif’s government was forced under a so-called US conspiracy. Washington has rejected Khan’s claims of conspiracy, and Sharif’s government has fired them.
Militant attacks have increased in Pakistan.
On Sunday, three soldiers and three children were killed in a suicide bombing near a security vehicle in the northwestern part of the country. In the city of Peshawar, gunmen killed two members of the minority Sikh community. On Monday, Islamic State groups claimed responsibility for rare attacks on Sikhs.
