Former Pakistani PM Assassinated.

[notoriouS-K-M]

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

News of her death was confirmed by a military spokesman and members of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when gunfire and an explosion occurred.

At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack and several more were injured. Ms Bhutto had twice been the country's prime minister.

She had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

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

"I can't tell you what the feelings of the people of Pakistan are today," he told BBC News 24 after returning from the hospital where she was brought.

The BBC's Barbara Plett says the killing is likely to provoke an agonised response from her followers, especially from her loyal following in Sindh Province. Ms Bhutto was key to her party, she was the focus of her party and she was a major political player amongst all those fighting for seats in the forthcoming elections, our correspondent adds.

The PPP has the largest support of any party in the country.

Analysts note that Rawalpindi, a garrison city, is seen as one of the country's most secure cities, making the attack even more embarrassing for the military authorities

MOMENTS BEFORE THE ATTACK




CARNAGE AFTER THE BLAST



Scene of grief

The explosion occurred close to an entrance gate of the park in Rawalpindi where Ms Bhutto had been speaking.
Wasif Ali Khan, a member of the PPP who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital, said she died at 1816 (1316 GMT).

Supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog", referring to President Pervez Musharraf, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

Some broke the glass door at the main entrance to the emergency unit as others wept.

A man with a PPP flag tied around his head could be seen beating his chest, the agency adds.

An interior ministry spokesman, Javed Cheema, was quoted as saying by AFP that she may have been killed by pellets packed into the suicide bomber's vest.

However, AP quoted a PPP security adviser as saying she was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, before the gunman blew himself up.

Mr Sharif said there had been a "serious lapse in security" by the government.

Earlier on Thursday, at least four people were killed ahead of an election rally he himself had been preparing to attend close to Rawalpindi.

She'd named 3 ppl in the government who according to her were trying to assassinate her back in October.

SOURCES

http://www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.cnn.com
http://www.jang.com.pk

[SajN]

I heard this news earlier today.
It's sad man.
I am pakistani myself, and now I don't know what will happen to Pak in the future.

[notoriouS-K-M]

I heard this news earlier today.
It's sad man.
I am pakistani myself, and now I don't know what will happen to Pak in the future.

Same here dude.

[Arabian Shady]

i had just come out of the university wen a friend of mine called up n told me the news, i was reali shocked.a black day in the history of pakistan.
their just trying to create a sense of helplessness so that ppl end up creatin havoc on the streets,i guess musharraf will probably ask sum of his general friends to impose another martial law since he no longer is in the position to do so himself.but altho i aint a supporter or opposer of musharaf i sincerely think the guy didnt have nething to do wid this shit
did u look at nawaz's face wen he entered the hospital where she was kept,i thought he looked wierd man
i hope all ends well
peace

[SajN]

And now .. this is only the beginning of the next horror..
Allah knows what will happen next!

[notoriouS-K-M]

altho i aint a supporter or opposer of musharaf i sincerely think the guy didnt have nething to do wid this shit

peace

Benazir herself had told Musharraf that she feared Former ISI chief Hamid Gul, son of former president ,Zia-ul-Haq, Ijazulhaq (& one more name I can't recall at the moment) wanted to assassinate her. So even if Musharraf isn't directly involved in the attacks (which I think he is), he is responsible in the sense that he didn't give Benazir proper protection. Until yesterday Benazir was complaining about the lack of good security ,provided to her by the government, on the news.

And now .. this is only the beginning of the next horror..
Allah knows what will happen next!

Pakistan will get through, it always does. I just hope they can identify the persons behind this (though under Musharrsf's regime I think it is impossible)

[Arabian Shady]

thats the problem at the mo,we have a leader who knows shit abt politics.the guy is a fukin mad man wid a gun.he came to pakistan like that n now he fears that its goin to happn to him.
i think benazir knew that every rally she goes to could be her last .the woman had a bullet,bomb proof car yet she decided to open the sunroof n wave to supporters,i mean wat was the purpose of all the protection if u had to stik half ur head out in the first place
my thoery is that this happn b cause of anti pakistan forces(whoever they r) trying to destabilise the democartic process.i mean if u think deap enuf this could be sum sort of ground work for attacking pakistans nuclear power:"ur counrty is not safe at the mo. we will come n "protect" you.
get wat i mean???
peace

[notoriouS-K-M]

Yeah I do. There are 3 hypotheses at the moment
1- the one that you suggested.
2- the one about the 3 ppl i mentioned.
3- musharraf doing it to mantain his grip on power. I wouldn't put it beyond him, I mean he did it to Akbar Bugti (He was 80 I mean COME ON!)

Either way the medium used is the extremists.

[Arabian Shady]

terrorists maybe, but i think that most probably it would be some one frm inside our government.u know a rat in the house or something.
the only sensible thing left for musharaf to do is to continue wid the elections n give democracy a fukin chance,
our country has the worst politicians ever.i mean these ppl arnt evn politicians , they are military ppl .
ever since zia ul haq was there we have had military government.this actually makes the military look bad.
our military is the only single force protecting us frm the "forces" other wise we would have been rin over long ago.yeaterday i was wayching goe n ppl were shouting anti miliatry slogans."foji kute"
i was reali angry man, these ppl dont evn think!

peace

[notoriouS-K-M]

our military is the only single force protecting us frm the "forces"

lol, the only ppl our military is protecting is themselves. They raped women & killed children in Balochistan & Waziristan & when the retaliation began these so called "brave soldiers" barracaded themselves in their cantonments. Here, in Quetta, the army officials have been ordered not to go out of the Cantt. & everyday we see the army officials going around the cantt in total protocol from the colonels to the brigadiers & the generals & what security do the civilians get? None. So it is only natural that most of the Pakistani ppl or atleast most of the ppl from Balochistan, NWFP & Sindh hate the Pakistan Army.

[Arabian Shady]

what your sayin could probably be true, aint gna deny it.but do you think that pakistan can survive if there was no military.
hate em or love em but u cant survive without 'em.
did u watch the footage where they show the gunner firing the shots? that shit was eerie man.
benazir had 3 levels of protection,the smae offered to the president n vice president, n it got breeched i think the sucider was actually gided to the car man. no one can penetrate shit like that without gettin searched
peace

[sarmadkhan]

its pretty sad she was so intelligent n da first women who becam prime minister in very young age thou da max age for a pm shud be 45... may God bless her soul

[notoriouS-K-M]

what your sayin could probably be true, aint gna deny it.but do you think that pakistan can survive if there was no military.
hate em or love em but u cant survive without 'em.

I never hated the Pakistan military until they began their operations against the balochs. At the moment the army is in no position to protect us. You see the first rule in the disintegration of a country is to cause its military to get involved in the internal affairs of the country & move its base of operations from the borders to the provinces or states.

did u watch the footage where they show the gunner firing the shots? that shit was eerie man.
benazir had 3 levels of protection,the smae offered to the president n vice president, n it got breeched i think the sucider was actually gided to the car man. no one can penetrate shit like that without gettin searched

Yeah man.Ofcourse the killer was guided to the spot & now even the news channels from GEO & ARY to CNN & BBC are saying that there wasn't enough security.

In yesterday's press conference Asif Zardari (Bhutto's husband) correctly dubbed Muslim League Q as the Qatil (Murderer's) league. Man I'd told u that in her letter Benazir had named 3 ppl trying to kill her.

[Arabian Shady]

I never hated the Pakistan military until they began their operations against the balochs. At the moment the army is in no position to protect us. You see the first rule in the disintegration of a country is to cause its military to get involved in the internal affairs of the country & move its base of operations from the borders to the provinces or states.

i think exactly the same way,look at india .they have a bigger counrty n bigger crisis all the time but the never involved the military,its just an illeterate way of running things.half of the presidents that we had were either gangstas in their own rite n the other were just down rite warriors.we never had a POLITICIAN. u know wat i mean

nah i coudnt watch the interview, i had n exam today.
asif zardarey is an asshole, never liked him.hes one of those hypocrite ppl/behind the scenes gangsta
peace

[DrRapid]

Since I started to c her in TV everyday I knew it was very possible she was going 2 get shot. Wot a shame 4 sum