PPP leader Benazir Bhutto shot dead

Munizae Jehangir
Thursday, December 27, 2007 (Islamabad)
PPP leader Benazir Bhutto has been shot dead following a suicide attack on her rally in Rawalpindi. Pakistan interior ministry has declared high alert across the country post the attacks that marred rallies of both main opposition leaders, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.Benazir Bhutto's election rally was disrupted by a suicide attack on Thursday. The blast occured minutes after Benazir Bhutto finished her speech.Dawn News sources claim 20-25 are feared killed in the blast.Reports also suggest that Benazir has been reportedly hurt in the attack and has been moved to a hospital in Rawalpindi.PPP Information Secretary Sherry Rehman has also been injured and taken to a hospital.Earlier in the day at least four people were killed and several injured after gunmen opened fire on supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while they were on their way to Rawalpindi on Wednesday.The injured have been moved to hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.In response to the terror attack, Nawaz Sharif claimed that their lives were at risk and that Musharraf had no control over the situation.

"The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred," Bhutto's lawyer Babar Awan said.

A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in neck and chest as she got into her vehicle to leave the rally in Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. A gunman then blew himself up.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack.

Her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf.

Some smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears. One man with a flag of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party tied around his head was beating his chest.

At least 20 others were killed in the blast that took place as Bhutto left a political rally where she addressed thousands of supporters in her campaign for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile Oct. 18.

Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack.

A senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, confirmed that Bhutto had died.

Her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf. Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears.

A suicide bomber blew himself up just after the rally and it was not immediately clear how she died.

"It may have been pellets packed into the suicide bomber's vest that hit her," interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema said.