Pakistan P.M. Safe After Shots Fired at Car
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s prime minister survived an apparent assassination attempt today when at least two shots hit his limousine as he drove toward the capital.
Officials said Yousuf Raza Gilani was unhurt and brought to safety after the incident on the main highway leading into Islamabad.
The premier’s press secretary, Zahid Bashir, said two bullets struck the driver’s side of the vehicle in a “murder attempt.”
State-run Pakistan Television aired footage of Mr. Gilani’s black Mercedes car with the two impact points clearly visible on the driver’s window. The glass was cracked but intact.
“The prime minister is fine, he is back in Islamabad at the PM house,” the Information Minister, Sherry Rehman, told Dawn News TV.
The incident adds to the tension in Pakistan at a time when its new civilian government is vowing to crack down on Islamic militants after ousting an American ally, Pervez Musharraf, from the presidency.
It was also the second apparent assassination attempt in quick succession.
Shots were fired last week at a car carrying the top American diplomat in Pakistan’s troubled northwest, Lynne Tracy, as she was heading toward her office in the city of Peshawar. No one was hurt.
