Benazir Bhutto killed in suicide attack

Rawalpindi: The Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto died Thursday from her injuries sustained in a suicide attack, a party aide said. "At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital. The suicide bomber struck shortly Bhutto addressed a political rally in this garrison city on Thursday, killing at least 20 people, witnesses said. An Associated Press reporter at the scene could see body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park where Bhutto had spoken. He counted about 20 bodies, including police, and could see many other wounded people. A police official, Abdul Karim, said Bhutto had already left the area in her vehicle when the blast went off, just minutes after her speech to thousands of supporters, part of her campaign for January 8 parliamentary elections. Another police official, Saud Aziz, said it was a suicide attack. It was the second suicide attack apparently targeting the former prime minister in two months. Her homecoming parade in southern city of Karachi from an eight-year exile on October 18 was also targeted, killing more than 140 people. On Thursday, hundreds of riot police had manned security checkpoints to guard the venue. It was Bhutto's first public meeting in Rawalpindi since she came back to the country. In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital where Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army has its headquarters. Earlier Thursday, pro-government party supporters clashed with backers of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif a few kilometers from Rawalpindi, killing four people and wounding three. Source: International Herald Tribune

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