Former Pakistan Prime Minister killed in attack

[genial.soul]

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suicide attack.

Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when she was shot in the neck by a gunman who then set off a bomb.

At least 16 other people died in the attack and several more were injured.

President Pervez Musharraf condemned the killing and urged people to remain calm so that the "nefarious designs of terrorists can be defeated."


Ms Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), had twice been the country's prime minister and had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

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It was the second suicide attack against her in recent months and came amid a wave of bombings targeting security and government officials.

Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister and a political rival, said her death was a tragedy for "the entire nation".

"It is not a sad day, it is [the] darkest, gloomiest day in the history of this country," he said, speaking at the hospital where she was taken.

The United Nations Security Council is to meet for emergency consultations shortly to discuss the situation in Pakistan after the killing.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed today following a suicide blast during a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Reports have Bhutto was shot in the neck which followed the suicide bombing that also claimed the lives of at least 20 others, while 40 were injured. The rally drew a crowd of thousands of supporters amidst tight security. The violence come less than two weeks ahead of January parliamentary elections and as many days after President Pervez Musharraf lifted a six-week-old state of emergency he said was necessary to ensure the country's stability. This attack marks the third assassination attempt against Bhutto since her arrival from exhile in October.

A suicide bombing on October 18 in Karachi targeting Bhutto's convoy as she arrived in Pakistan after 8 years of self-imposed exile, killed 136 people and wounded more than 387. Bhutto was unhurt in that incident.




About Benazir Bhutto