From the assassination of its first PM in 1951, the country has suffered waves of brutal sectarian conflict and murders

Last month, Pakistan summoned the US ambassador in Islamabad for a dressing down after President Joe Biden described the south Asian country as “one of the most dangerous nations in the world”. Biden was apparently referring to Pakistan’s combination of nuclear weapons and apparent instability. He might have been talking about the threat faced by the country’s own politicians instead.

On Thursday, the former prime minister Imran Khan was shot when his anti-government protest convoy came under attack in the east of the country, in what his aides said was a clear assassination attempt. The 70-year-old did not appear to be seriously injured but the incident underlines once again how politics in Pakistan is inseparable from violence.