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Twin blasts strike near Pakistan’s Ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto
Ex-prime minister not hurt, but at least 108 others killed, 150 injured..
Two explosions went off Thursday night near a truck carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on her

celebratory return to Pakistan after eight years in exile. A suspected suicide bomber killed 115 people on Friday in an attack targeting a vehicle carrying former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto through Karachi on her return from eight years in exile. Officials said Bhutto was unhurt after one of the deadliest blasts in her country’s history, having left the truck that had been transporting her through streets crowded with hundreds of thousands of wellwishers. “Ms. Bhutto is safe and she has been taken to her residence,” said Azhar Farooqui, a senior police officer in Karachi. Rescuers scrambled to drag bodies from the twisted wreckage of blazing vehicles as flames lit up the night sky after two apparent explosions in Pakistan’s most violent city. “The blasts hit two police vehicles which were escorting the truck carrying Ms. Bhutto. The target was the truck,” Farooqui told Reuters. Militants linked to al Qaeda, angered by Bhutto’s support for the United States war on terrorism, had earlier this week threatened to assassinate her.
There were conflicting reports on the number of people killed in the blasts. The Associated Press, citing hospital officials, reported 108 dead. Reuters, citing witnesses and a police official, reported 115 killed. There was no way to immediately reconcile these differences.
An initial small explosion was followed by a huge blast just feet from the front of the truck carrying Bhutto during a procession through Karachi. The blast shattered windows in her vehicle. Neither Bhutto nor any of the others riding on the truck was hurt, police officer Hasib Beg said.
Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi told Dawn News that Bhutto was rushed from the area under emergency plans prepared ahead of her return.
“She was evacuated very safely and is now in Bilawal House,” Farooqi told Dawn News television, referring to Bhutto’s residence in Karachi.
Police suspected one of the blasts was caused by a suicide attack, a senior government official said. A senior Pakistani official told NBC News’ Bob Windrem that the attack was “definitely suicide bombing.”

Footage from the scene showed bodies on the ground amid pools of blood, broken glass, tires and bits of clothing. A mural nearby read “Long Live Bhutto.”
The truck carrying Bhutto was designed to withstand an attack.
Bhutto had stood in plain view on top of the vehicle, ignoring police advice to stay behind its protective glass, as the vehicle edged through crowds. More than 150,000 jubilant supporters had surrounded the convoy carrying Bhutto amid massive security in Karachi.
It was the second time Bhutto escaped an assassination attempt. The first attempt was by al-Qaida in 1993. There have been at least three unsuccessful attempts on the lives of Pakistani leaders since 2003.
The United States on Thursday afternoon condemned the bomb attack. “Extremists will not be allowed to stop Pakistanis from selecting their representatives through an open and democratic process,” said Gordon Johndroe, the White House National Security Council spokesman.
Bhutto warned of attacks
Authorities had urged her to travel in Karachi by helicopter to reduce the risk of attack. But Bhutto, hated by radical Islamists because she supports the U.S.-led war on terrorism, brushed off the concerns.
“I am not scared. I am thinking of my mission,” she had told reporters on the plane. “This is a movement for democracy because we are under threat from extremists and militants.”
Bhutto recently courted controversy in Pakistan by saying that she would cooperate with the American military in targeting Osama bin Laden, and authorities warned that Islamic militants could launch suicide attacks and roadside bombings against her.
Asked about such threats on Wednesday in Dubai, Bhutto said Islam forbids suicide bombings and attacks on her. “Muslims know if they attack a woman they will burn in hell,” she said.
The government of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, had appealed to Bhutto to abandon plans for a snail-paced grand procession through Karachi, saying it would leave her vulnerable. The government said the main threat was from Taliban and al-Qaida.
Source: Msnbc