Bhutto Killed at Political Rally

12/27/2007

Washington Post | December 27, 2007


Bhutto was shot at close range as she was leaving the rally in this garrison city south of Islamabad, aides said. Immediately after the shooting, a suicide bomber detonated explosives near
Bhutto's car, killing at least 15 other people.

Bhutto was rushed to a hospital with extensive wounds to her torso, her supporters said. Shortly after she arrived at the hospital, an official came out of the building and told a crowd of supporters

Bhutto was dead.

Also Thursday, a rooftop sniper opened fire on supporters of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at a different pre-election rally in Rawalpindi, leaving four dead and at least five injured.

Bhutto's death is a devastating development, coming 12 days before Pakistanis are set to vote in national parliamentary elections already marked by enormous political turmoil. President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in November -- a move which he said was to combat terrorism, but which was widely perceived as an effort to stave off legal challenges to his authority. U.S. military officials said last week that the terrorist group al-Qaeda increasingly is focusing its efforts in Pakistan.

Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan in October, had been running for parliament and hoped to become prime minister if her party won enough legislative seats. At her homecoming reception in the port city of Karachi, suicide bombing attacks killed 140 people. Her appearances had drawn large crowds and stringent security checkpoints. At a rally in Peshawar on Wednesday, police stopped a would-be bomber with explosives around his neck. Thursday's rally was relatively sparsely attended, according to those present, apparently because people feared additional attempts at violence.

Information about the attack was sketchy, and in some cases reports were conflicting. One aide to Bhutto said the suicide bomber who struck Thursday was right next to Bhutto's car. The explosions seemed like a targeted assassination attempt, the aide said.

Initial reports said Bhutto was not hurt. But local television stations soon quoted Bhutto's husband as saying she was critically injured and in surgery. A short time later, the crowd of supporters gathered at the hospital. When an official emerged to say she had died, those gathered cried out in grief and rage.

Sharif, who returned in late November from his own exile, is barred from running from office Jan. 8. But his party is competing in the elections and has been attracting large numbers of supporters to its rallies.

At the Sharif rally, party spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said supporters were fired upon while waiting to welcome the former prime minister. He called the attack unprovoked, and said it was carried out by Musharraf supporters.

Musharraf's party is "panicked by the astounding reception Mr. Sharif is getting," Iqbal said. "They're trying to use violence as an excuse to postpone the elections."