Bhutto dies in suicide attackFORMER Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a gun and bomb attack. At least 20 people were killed when the bomber struck after opposition leader Mrs Bhutto addressed a political rally, witnesses said.
It has been reported that Mrs Bhutto was shot in the neck and the chest before the bomber blew himself up.
Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto?s party who was at Rawalpindi General hospital, said Mrs Bhutto died at 6.16pm Pakistani time (1.16pm GMT)
Horror ... people remove bodies from the site of the explosion in Rawalpindi
Babar Awan, Bhutto?s lawyer, said: ?The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred.?
A witness at the scene of the attack said he heard two shots moments before the blast.
?As party leaders, including Bhutto, started coming out a man tried to go close to them and then he fired some shots and blew himself up,? said a police officer, at the scene.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband today described the killing of Benazir Bhutto as a ?senseless attack?.
The death of the charismatic former prime minister threw the campaign for the January 8 election into chaos and created fears of mass protests and an eruption of violence across the volatile south Asian nation.
Next to President Pervez Musharraf, Bhutto, 54, was the best known political figure in the country, serving two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996.
The United States condemned the attack.
A US State Department official said: ?The attack shows that there are still those in Pakistan trying to undermine reconciliation and democratic development in Pakistan.?
Police said about 15 people had been killed in the blast.
Earlier, party officials said Bhutto was safe.
Body parts and flesh were scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park, in Rawalpindi, where Bhutto had spoken.
Police official Abdul Karim had said Bhutto had already left the area in her vehicle when the blast went off, just minutes after her speech to thousands of supporters.
Another police official, Saud Aziz, said it was a suicide attack.
The road outside was stained with blood. People screamed for ambulances. Others gave water to the wounded lying in the street.
The clothing of some of the victims was shredded and people put party flags over their bodies.
Bhutto became the first female prime minister in the Muslim world when she was elected in 1988 at the age of 35.
She was deposed in 1990, re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996 amid charges of corruption and mismanagement.
She said the charges were politically motivated but in 1999 chose to stay in exile rather than face them.
The United States has for months been encouraging President Pervez Musharraf to reach some kind of political accommodation with the opposition, particularly Bhutto, a former prime minister who is seen as having a wide base of support in the Southwest Asian nation.
Her party has been widely expected to do well in parliamentary elections set for next month.
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