Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan who survived an assassination attempt has hailed the man who foiled the attack and apprehended the shooter during his long march in Punjab province as the country's "hero".

Khan, 70, suffered a bullet injury in the right leg on Thursday when two gunmen fired a volley of bullets at him and others mounting on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area of Punjab province, where he was leading a protest march against the Shehbaz Sharif government.