Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and former Prime Minister, has been killed in a suicide bombing on her political rally today.
Ms Bhutto had been addressing crowds at the garrison city of Rawalpindi, ahead of Pakistan’s general election next month, when witnesses say she was shot through the neck and chest then the bomber detonated his explosives, killing around 20 people.
Ms. Bhutto was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 p.m. after the doctors had tried to resuscitate her for thirty-five minutes.
As news of her death filtered out, Ms Bhutto’s supporters at the hospital began chanting “Dog, Musharraf, dog,” referring to Pakistan’s President, Pervez Musharraf.
Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears.
Russia and the United States both swiftly issued condemnations of the atrocity, which was being blamed on Islamic militants.
A Russian foreign ministry spokesman predicted that it would bring fresh instability to the region, and trigger a fresh round of terrorist attacks.
-Chris Jones
