Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Pakistan

Nation & World News

Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Pakistan

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.

A supporter of Pakistan's assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto mourns as a car burns after being set afire by protesters late Thursday in Lahore.

People carry the coffin of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at a hospital in Rawalpindi late Thursday.

Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto waves to her supporters at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, shortly before she was killed.

A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in neck and chest as she got into her vehicle to leave the rally in Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. A gunman then blew himself up.

Pakistan former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (left) comforts Amin Fahim, leader of Benazir Bhutto's People's party at a local hospital where Bhutto died.

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto gets ready for her last public rally Thursday. The death of the 54-year-old charismatic former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos

In this image made from video provided by CNN, Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto speaks to an aide before entering a vehicle in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto speaks Thursday during her last public rally in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto waves Thursday as she leaves Liaquat Bagh after addressing her final rally. She was killed minutes later.

Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrives to address to her last public rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday.

The casket bearing the remains of Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, is carried by her supporters. At the hospital where Bhutto died, some supporters smashed glass and wailed, chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf blamed Islamic extremists for her death and said he would redouble his efforts to fight them.

Angry protesters in Hyderabad burn vehicles to protest the killing of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Bhutto's supporters erupted in anger and grief after her death, attacking police and burning tires and election campaign posters in several cities. At right, victims of the attack.

In this image made from video provided by CNN, Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, center with white scarf, enters a vehicle on Thursday.

A supporter of Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto mourns deaths of his colleagues Thursday.

A supporter of Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto mourns at the spot of the suicide attack Thursday.

An injured man is transported on a stretcher from the site of the bomb blast in Rawalpindi.

"The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy," President Bush said Thursday from Crawford, Texas.

Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and opposition leader, arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Bhutto's body. "Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you to take the revenge for her death," he said.

President Pervez Musharraf blamed Islamic extremists for Bhutto's death and said he would redouble his efforts to fight them.

At least 20 others were killed in the blast that took place as Bhutto left a political rally where she addressed thousands of supporters in her campaign for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections. Scores were wounded.

This photo provided by Sen. Arlen Specter's office shows Sen. Specter, R-Pa., second from right, along with Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., third from right, and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson, right, during a visit to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's party headquarters in Islamabad to lay flowers.

Troops from Pakistan's paramilitary force patrol in Hyderabad, near Karachi. Angry protesters burned vehicles and a train after Benazi Bhutto's slaying.

A wounded Bhutto supported is assisted after the attack. Some smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears. One man with a flag of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party tied around his head was beating his chest.

An injured victim of suicide attack is comforted by a relative at the local hospital in Rawalpindi.

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A supporter of Pakistan's assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto mourns as a car burns after being set afire by protesters late Thursday in Lahore.

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