Emergency.Blog

Bhutto Assassinated, 20 Others Dead in Terror Attack

EmergencyNet *FLASH* Report

12/27/2007 - 12:17:14 PM CST

Bhutto Assassinated, 20 Others Dead in Terror Attack

PAKISTAN: Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself up. Her death stoked new chaos across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

At least 20 others were also killed in the attack on the rally for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections where the 54-year-old Bhutto had just spoken.

Her supporters erupted in anger and grief after her killing, attacking police and burning tires and election campaign posters in several cities. Security forces have been placed on a state of "red alert" nationwide.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. Analysts believe Islamist militants to be the most likely group behind it. Other observors suggest that the attack may be linked to elements within the government.

Watch EmergencyNet News for continuing developments on this important and emerging story.

-- AP, Reuters, and FoxNews contributed to this report

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Benazir Bhutto's profile

By ANI, Thursday December 27, 07:43 PM

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Previous Reference:

Emergency.Blog : More Than 100 Killed in Attack on Bhutto's Convoy in Pakistan

Killed in Attack on Bhutto's Convoy in Pakistan - More Than 100 Killed in Attack on Bhutto's Convoy in Pakistan Posted by C. L. Staten

http://www.emergency.com/archive/2007/10/entry_278.htm

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Previous report from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT, EmergencyNet News Service, Tuesday, October 23, 2007, Vol. 13, No. 296

Pakistan's Bhutto receives new threat

KARACHI, Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto received a new death threat Tuesday, her lawyer said, and a top official revealed there apparently were two suicide bombers behind last week's bloody attempt to kill her.

Sen. Farooq Naik, Bhutto's lawyer, said he had received a two-page handwritten letter in the Urdu language from an unidentified person threatening to kill the former prime minister "by any means." The writer claimed to be a friend of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and extremists in Pakistan.

The authenticity of the letter could not be confirmed, but Naik said the party was taking it seriously. He said he asked the chief justice of Pakistan to get the government to investigate the threat and protect her.

"We cannot take anything lightly" after Thursday's bombing, he said. Bhutto's homecoming from an eight-year exile was shattered by the blasts that hit her caravan as she traveled through Karachi. She escaped injury, but 136 other people were killed.

Sindh provincial Gov. Ishrat Ul-Ebad Khan said people in custody in connection with seven previous suicide attacks in Karachi were being questioned in prisons in the city and elsewhere in Pakistan in the hope they can provide clues into the bombing.