'Militant linked to attack on Benazir killed'

Police said Tuesday they had killed a Taliban commander responsible for a bomb attack in 2007 that killed 139 people in a botched attempt to assassinate ex-premier Benazir Bhutto. Firdous Khan was killed in an hour-long gunfight with police in the Manghopir neighbourhood, said Usman Bajwa, a senior official in the Crime Investigations Department.
Bajwa told AFP Khan was the mastermind of the devastating bombing near Benazir Bhutto's truck at a political rally during her homecoming parade in October 2007. Bhutto survived the attack but was assassinated two months later in a gun and suicide bomb attack at a rally in Rawalpindi. "Firdous Khan was a Taliban commander who acted as a facilitator and trained the suicide bomber and later took him to the target," said Bajwa.
Bajwa said the shootout took place between Monday night and Tuesday morning. Other militants escaped during the exchange of fire by taking advantage of the darkness, he said. Karachi, a city of 18 million people which contributes 42 percent of Pakistan's GDP, has been plagued by sectarian, ethnic and political violence for years. The city is also racked by militants, especially the Taliban.