Pakistan: Imran Khan's PTI members to resign from all assemblies

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, at a public gathering in Pakistan's Rawalpindi, announced that his party has decided to resign from all the Assemblies.

Imran Khan on Saturday addressed a mega rally organised by his party here in Pakistan's garrison city, the first since the former prime minister was wounded during an assassination bid.

Khan, who was accompanied by a team of doctors as he arrived in a helicopter in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Saturday, said everyone had advised him when he was setting out from Lahore not to do so due to his injured leg as well as the threats to his life.

Khan said he went ahead because he has seen death form close range.

"if you want to live life, shun the fear of death," he said.

He is leading the long march, demanding early general elections, months after he was ousted from power.

Earlier, Khan was advised to wear a bulletproof jacket, should not exit the vehicle on the way to the rally's venue and keep his movement secret.

The 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician said on Friday that despite being injured he is determined to head to Rawalpindi for the sake of the nation.

Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. The US has denied the allegations.

Khan is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament. The term of the current National Assembly will end in August 2023. 

(With inputs from agencies)