PRAGUE, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, now the leader of the opposition ANO party, was struck in the head with a metallic forearm crutch by a man during an election rally on Monday, the Czech News Agency reported.

The attack occurred in the eastern town of Dobra in the afternoon. Babis, who served as Czech prime minister from 2017 to 2021, went to hospital for an examination after the incident, the agency said, citing an ANO spokesman.

His health condition was not immediately clear. Czech Television later reported that Babis underwent a head CT scan and was subsequently released from the hospital.

Czech Police said on the social media platform X that officers at the scene immediately detained the man after the attack, and the case is now under investigation. In addition to Babis, a woman was also treated for injuries.

Police have preliminarily classified the incident as a "criminal offense of disorderly conduct."

ANO's first deputy chairman Karel Havlicek wrote on X that the incident was one of the consequences of a "hate campaign" allegedly waged by political rivals.

Responding to the attack, Interior Minister Vit Rakusan stressed that violence in any form is unacceptable.

"I unequivocally condemn today's attack on Andrej Babis. Let us seek a better future for our country in clashes of arguments and ideas, not in physical violence," he said on X.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala also condemned the attack, stressing that "violence has no place in politics under any circumstances." ■