PAKISTAN: Pakistan blast kills 115 as Bhutto returns

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's rally marred by a massive bomb blast in Karachi. A suspected suicide bomber killed at least 123 people on Friday (October 19) in an attack on former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto as she was driven through Karachi to greet supporters on her return from eight years in exile. Dozens of injured were brought into the hospital for treatment as loved ones waited for news. Bhutto was unhurt in one of the deadliest attacks in her country's history. She was quickly escorted away from the truck that had been carrying her through streets crowded with hundreds of thousands of well-wishers. There was no claim of responsibility. Militants linked to al Qaeda, angered by Bhutto's support for the U.S. war on terrorism, had this week threatened to assassinate her. Dr Ejaz Ahmed, a police surgeon, told Reuters 84 dead had been brought to three hospitals. A doctor at another hospital said 39 bodies were lying there. Police chief Farooqui said 260 people were wounded. "The blasts hit two police vehicles which were escorting the truck carrying Ms Bhutto. The target was the truck ... There were two blasts and most probably one was suicide," Farooqui told Reuters. "The first blast occurred beneath the tier of Mohtarama's (Benazir Bhutto) truck. I was ahead of the vehicle. Someone said it was burst of tier but as I moved ahead I saw a piece of flesh. I thought it was bomb blast. I started running, and then the second blast occurred," aid Ali Raza, an injured man. Rescuers dragged bodies from the wreckage of blazing vehicles as flames lit up the night sky. Rehman Malik, a Bhutto aide with her on the truck, said the blasts went off while she was resting inside the vehicle. The attack took place shortly after midnight, more than 10 hours after Bhutto had arrived back in Pakistan from Dubai. About 20,000 security personnel had been deployed to protect Bhutto but the provincial governor said in view of the "real threats", authorities had urged her party to wind up the procession faster. "Unfortunately, the terrorists got their opportunity," governor Ishrat-ul-Ibad told Dawn Television. Dressed in a green tunic, her head covered with a white scarf -- green and white are Pakistan's national colours -- Bhutto had for hours stood in plain view on top of the truck, ignoring police advice to stay behind its bullet proof glass, as it edged through crowds waving party flags. ENDS.

ITN Source | October 19, 2007

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