Euro News : Carnage in Karachi as terrorists target Bhutto

Carnage in Karachi as terrorists target Bhutto

October 19, 2007

A suspected suicide bomber has targeted the former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazier Bhutto, causing widespread chaos and carnage. Bhutto was unharmed in the attack but only narrowly escaped. She had climbed inside the open-topped bus she'd been travelling on, but the blast killed several of her aids. With the streets densely packed by thousands of supporters celebrating her return from exile, the explosions, two in all, ripped through the crowd. At least 120 people are reported dead with more than 300 injured.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for what is being seen as a clear assassination attempt, but militants linked to al Qaeda are suspected. Earlier Bhutto had received an ecstatic welcome when she had arrived back in Pakistan after eight years.

Her intention was to lead her "Pakistan Peoples Party" into national elections, meant to return the country to civilian rule, but with her safety impossible to guarantee, those elections have been put in doubt.