BREAKING: Benazir Bhutto Assassinated at Opposition Rally in Pakistan
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a suicide bomber today shortly after leaving a rally for her People’s Party of Pakistan in Rawalpindi, a military garrison town near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. The Washington Post reports on the attack and its immediate aftermath:
Bhutto, 54, was shot at close range as she waved to supporters from the rooftop opening of a bulletproof car, witnesses said. Seconds later, a suicide bomber detonated explosives just behind Bhutto’s car. The explosion killed at least 20 people, and injured many others.
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Bhutto was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital, where a surgeon worked in vain to save her. Thousands had gathered by the time an official emerged from the hospital to say Bhutto was dead; the announcement triggered a roar of rage and grief.
Devastated supporters smashed the glass doors of the hospital and stormed the building to try and view her lifeless body. Even as ambulances continued to arrive bearing dead and wounded from the bombing, the crowd outside the hospital tore down and burned campaign posters showing candidates from Musharraf’s party. Yelling “Musharraf is a dog,” they blamed him for Bhutto’s death.
President Bush responded to the attack in a brief statement from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, condemning the attack as a “cowardly act by murderous extremists.”
The scene in Rawalpindi has become chaotic in the wake of Bhutto’s assassination, with supporters burning vehicles and demonstrating in the streets. Whether this unrest will spread to other cities in Pakistan remains to be seen. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but President Pervez Musharraf has blamed the attack on extremist Islamist forces based in the tribal region along the Afghani border.
The implications of this attack for democracy in Pakistan remain unclear.  Parliamentary elections are still scheduled for January 8th, but it remains to be seen who will take up the mantle for democracy in the remaining weeks of the campaign. If the situation continues to destabilize, it is likely that Musharraf will reimpose martial law and postpone the elections. We will continue to follow updates coming out of Pakistan as they unfold over the next few days.
F-Dog on 27 Dec 2007 at 3:26 pm #
Bhutto with her white veil, bejeweled blouses, flawless English and flair for drama and theatrical timing, Benazir Bhutto painted herself as lady liberty, a lone woman willing to risk all and stand up to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Bhutto said she is the one who can stop Musharraf and his crackdown, which has seen several thousand lawyers, students and political activists arrested. Observers compared the situation in Pakistan to September’s uprising in Myanmar, where monks and opposition leader (and Nobel Peace Prize-winner) Aung San Suu Kyi rallied against the military junta.
But Pakistan is not Myanmar, and Bhutto was no Aung San Suu Kyi.
Bhutto is a flawed hero. She has been accused – she said “for political reasons†– of massive corruption while serving twice as prime minister, first in the late 1980s and later in the mid-1990s. Bhutto stands accused of stealing roughly $1.5 billion, mostly in the form of kickbacks on government contracts.
Should we mourn her death?
Venkat Aditya on 27 Dec 2007 at 3:49 pm #
The attack throws up questions that both India and the US have been afraid to ask in public — how far can you invest in Pervez Musharraf as the ultimate arbiter of stability in Pakistan? The attack highlights the fact that jehadis can now strike at will anywhere in Pakistan. They clearly have a lot of help from elements within the establishment though there has been little attempt to quantify exactly where they are stationed. US should seriously think about the aid to Pakistan. Also Pakistan’s destabilization seriously affect India.
Venkat Aditya on 27 Dec 2007 at 3:51 pm #
In many ways, Thursday’s attack was the result of the space provided to Pervez Musharraf by his US sponsors, even when evidence overwhelmingly pointed to the fact that his establishment was guilty of gross misuse of the privileges the US gave — it ended up consuming the very person the US thought would be able to deliver Pakistan painlessly to a civilian administration.
Comments on 27 Dec 2007 at 4:25 pm #
Mushraff is the CEO of Terrorist Inc. in an Armani Suite. He pretends to have switched sides, for what 12 billion $ of aid over 5 years . He and his ISI were caught red handed after 911, with no other choice he signed on to play pretend game for a pay than get bombed. All the weapons he bought with this aid are all to fight India not terrorism. After all he and ISI are Terrorism inc. ISI is comprised of Pakistan military officers moon lighting through. Point being Pak military and ISI are also connected. What he really wants? To Islamize south Asia in the long run, a reason why pakistan itself was created ,and in short run control of Afghanistan directly or its proxy Taliban.
The only confusing part is how this is in US interests.