ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan is in good health after undergoing a medical procedure for an eye ailment at a government hospital, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Thursday.
Khan was examined by a team of doctors at Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison, where he is serving multiple prison sentences, before being taken to a government hospital on Saturday, where he underwent a 20-minute medical procedure with his consent.
“He is in good health,” Tarar told the private Geo News television channel.
The comments came after Khan’s opposition party spokesman Zulfiquar Bukhari said earlier this week that the former premier was suffering from an eye condition and required “immediate medical attention.”
Bukhari had called for Khan’s personal physician to be granted access, warning on X that any further delay could result in “irreversible harm.”
Tarar’s remarks followed days of speculation on social media that Khan had been taken to a hospital under heavy security over the weekend and returned to jail the same night. Khan has not been seen in public since his arrest in 2023 in a corruption case.
In a statement on Thursday, Bukhari said Tarar’s remarks were “very worrying” and described the handling of the health issue as “opaque and alarming.”
Khan’s family nor his legal team was informed before or after he was taken from prison for medical treatment, Bukhari said, adding that authorities had provided no verifiable details about his condition, the treatment administered or the doctors involved.
Bukhari said the government’s attempt to portray the eye condition as a routine medical matter raised “more questions than answers.” He expressed serious concerns about Khan’s health and demanded immediate access for his family and personal physicians, as well as full disclosure of the medical procedure and Khan’s current condition.
He urged human rights organizations to monitor the situation, saying the treatment of a former elected prime minister in custody reflected broader concerns about the rule of law, prisoners’ rights and due process in Pakistan.
After Khan’s arrest in 2023, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, initially launched a campaign demanding his release, but the effort later subsided. Authorities recently restricted meetings between Khan and his family after relatives publicly conveyed political messages urging supporters to stage rallies against the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Khan has also used posts on X to criticize the military and Sharif for his removal from office in a no-confidence vote in April 2022. He has alleged that his ouster was the result of a U.S.-backed conspiracy carried out with the support of Sharif and Pakistan’s powerful military — claims denied by Washington, the military and his political opponents.
Khan’s party remains in opposition in parliament and he continues to command significant popular support across the country.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
