'No plans to travel abroad': Imran Khan says after being placed on no-fly list

• Imran Khan thanks govt for placing him on no-fly list.
• Former PM claims he won't go, as he doesn't own assets abroad.
• PTI chief says he'll go for holidays in Pakistan's mountains instead.

After being placed on the no-fly list along with 226 leaders and lawmakers of his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Friday thanked the government for doing so stating that he has no plans to travel abroad.

A day earlier, Khan and hundreds of PTI leaders, as per sources, were added to the FIA's Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) to prevent them from going abroad for their involvement in the May 9 violent riots causing damage to public and private property, particularly those belonging to the country's armed forces.

Taking to Twitter, the PTI chief wrote: "I want to thank the government for putting my name on the ECL as I have no plans to travel abroad."

Citing reasons behind his plans, the former prime minister — who was voted out of office following a vote of no confidence in April last year — said he neither has "any properties or businesses abroad nor even a bank account outside the country."

However, if he does get an opportunity to go for a holiday, Khan said he will choose the country's northern mountains terming the sites as his "favourite place on earth."

"If and when I do get an opportunity for a holiday, it will be in our northern mountains, my favourite place on earth," he added.

According to the sources, Khan's wife Bushra Bibi has also been placed on the list which also includes PTI politicians Murad Saeed, Maleeka Bokhari, Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Qasim Suri, Asad Qaiser, Yasmin Rashid and Mian Aslam Iqbal.

The sources further claimed that some of the PTI leaders and office bearers tried leaving the country in the last three days, however, they were stopped at the airports.

In a bid to stop them from leaving the country, their names were sent by the police, the counter-terrorism department (CTD), and intelligence agencies.

Thousands of party workers and leaders were arrested during the crackdown on the PTI since May 9 for the party’s alleged involvement in the riots that claimed at least 8 lives and injured dozens of others.

Several party leaders and lawmakers — including Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan among others — have since publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the former ruling party since the May 9 vandalism.