Benazir Bhutto killed in Pakistan

[stressederic]

Bhutto killed by bomb at rally

 

 

Associated Press

Thursday December 27, 2007

Guardian Unlimited

 

 

The Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has died after a suicide bomb attack that killed at least 15 people at a campaign rally.

The explosion took place today as Bhutto left a rally in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, minutes after a speech to thousands of supporters.

 

The country's interior ministry has confirmed that the returned former prime minister has died.

 

She was critically wounded and rushed into emergency surgery. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was earlier quoted confirming his wife was in a "serious condition" following the attack.

 

 

Article continues

 

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A man tried to get close to Bhutto's party and began shooting before blowing himself up, said a police officer at the scene.

An Associated Press reporter on site saw body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park where Bhutto had spoken.

 

The blast comes two months after suicide bombers struck a parade celebrating Bhutto's return from exile, killing more than 140 people in the southern city of Karachi.

 

Hours earlier today, four people were killed and three more wounded in a clash between pro-government supporters and backers of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif just outside Islamabad.

 

The violence comes as the campaign for parliamentary elections gathers momentum after eight years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf was ended by his resignation from the army.

 

Opposition leaders are already claiming the election will be rigged against them, which authorities deny.

 

Hundreds of riot police had set up security checkpoints today as Bhutto prepared to hold her first campaign rally there since returning to Pakistan two months ago.

 

She had planned an earlier rally in the city but Musharraf forced her to cancel it over security fears.

 

After the gunfire at the Sharif rally, Sadiq ul-Farooq, a spokesman for Sharif's party, said: "Nawaz Sharif and his procession are safe, but we have received reports that a few people were wounded and maybe a few suffered fatal injuries."

 

All the injured are believed to be from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N group.

 

Imtiaz Ranjha, a spokesman or the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, condemned the attack but accused Sharif's supporters of provoking it. The party called for those involved to be punished.

 

Guardian

 

This is going to get very messy indeed.

[Gunga Din]

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