Category: Update

FORMER Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a gun and bomb attack.

At least 20 people were killed when the bomber struck after opposition leader Mrs Bhutto addressed a political rally, witnesses said.

It has been reported that Mrs Bhutto was shot in the neck and the chest before the bomber blew himself up.

Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General hospital, said Mrs Bhutto died at 6.16pm Pakistani time (1.16pm GMT)

Horror … people remove bodies from the site of the explosion in Rawalpindi

Babar Awan, Bhutto’s lawyer, said: “The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred.”

A witness at the scene of the attack said he heard two shots moments before the blast.

“As party leaders, including Bhutto, started coming out a man tried to go close to them and then he fired some shots and blew himself up,” said a police officer, at the scene.

The United States condemned the attack.

A US State Department official said: “The attack shows that there are still those in Pakistan trying to undermine reconciliation and democratic development in Pakistan.”

Police said about 15 people had been killed in the blast.

Earlier, party officials said Bhutto was safe.

Body parts and flesh were scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park, in Rawalpindi, where Bhutto had spoken.