Naming politicians, military officer by Imran akin to 'derailing' probe: Asif.

ISLAMABAD -- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif addressing the National Assembly (NA) on Friday said that blaming politicians and a senior military officer without proof for being involved in the attack on deposed premier Imran Khan was tantamount to 'derailing' the matter.

The former prime minister sustained a bullet wound to his leg following an attack near his container, as he led the PTI's 'Haqeeqi Azadi March' in Wazirabad a day earlier.

One person died in the incident, while several members of the PTI chairman's close circle, including Senator Faisal Javaid, Ahmad Chattha and Imran Yousaf were injured.

Hours after the incident, former PTI federal minister Asad Umar said the PTI chief Imran Khan had named three suspects, who he believed were behind the gun attack. He named Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and a military official as being involved in the assassination attempt against him, Umar said.

Addressing the NA today, Asif said that these claims were 'diverting the incident into a direction where no criminal will be held responsible'.

The defence minister also said that the government 'should still not refrain from providing any kind of help that could prove useful in this matter' as he stressed that if the attack was given a political outlook it will become an inconclusive matter of history.

'Attempts are being made,' he further claimed, 'to achieve political objectives by sabotaging the entire incident'.

'The federal government wants,' the minister added, 'that if there is any conspiracy behind yesterday's incident, then it should be brought forward.'

The defence minister expressed fears that 'if this issue is politicised' then there was a chance that the truth would not come out as 'such matters...