Benazir Bhutto Killed in Suicide Attack

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a suicide attack as she was leaving a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi. At least 20 people died in the attack, local reports say. The attack has been condemned internationally.

CNN reports witnesses say Bhutto was hit once in the neck and once in the chest before the bomber blow himself up as she was leaving a rally of her Pakistan People’s Party, for which she was party leader for lifetime, held ahead of elections scheduled for January 8 after years of military rule.

According to Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Benazir Bhutto’s PPP, she died at 18:16 (13:16 UTC), after a thirty-five minutes of resuscitation. The doctors said she had shrapnel injuries.

Her supporters, once informed of the death started chanting “Dog Musharraf, dog” referring to President Pervez Musharraf.

Bhutto was born on June 21, 1953 in Karachi, Pakistan. She served two times as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Bhutto had returned to Pakistan from exile to stand in the upcoming elections. In 2007, she was named the second most influential woman in the world in a list at the American Internet portal MSN.

President Musharraf called for citizens of Pakistan to stay calm and said that terrorists can be defeated, providing people do not panic. He also said there was “a serious lapse of security.”

Benazir Bhutto is survived by her husband Asif Ali Zardari and three children, Bilawal, Bakhtwar, and Aseefa.

Russia, The United States, Britain and France criticized the assassination.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry of Pakistan said that “Terrorists are trying to derail the election process”. He also sad he couldn’t say “whether Bhutto was the target of this attack or whether the attacker was trying to create chaos and bloodshed.”

By Wiki News

Net News Publisher