Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on Thursday in a gun and bomb attack as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi. Twenty-six people, including Benazir, were killed in the bomb blast, while 90 others injured. The injured included PPP leaders Sherry Rehman and Naheed Khan.
According to details, Benazir Bhutto left the venue in her bullet-proof vehicle, but at the gate of Liaquat Hall charged party workers encircled her car and she emerged from the roof shutter and waved at her supporters. A suicide bomber standing on opposite side of the Liaquat Hall detonated a device under the vehicle before firing upon her.
She received fatal bullet injuries in her neck and chest. She also suffered head injuries in the explosion. She was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital, but succumbed to her injuries. Hospital sources said that doctors tried hard to save her, but the injury on her throat proved fatal and she expired at 6.16 pm.
In the suicide bombing, 22 persons, including Benazir Bhutto, were killed while more than 47 people were injured, including PPP information secretary Sherry Rehman and Naheed Khan. Eight police officials, including DSP Ishtiaq Shah, ASI Habib and Constable Naseem Abbas also received injuries. Hospital sources confirmed that the condition of PPP leader Naheed Khan, DSP Ishtiaq Shah and 15 others is very critical.
The backside of the bullet-proof vehicle was damaged in the explosion, while the security car of Benazir Bhutto was badly damaged and People's Labour Bureau (PLB) President Abdul Qadir Shaheen was injured in the car.
Blood, human organs and valuables of dead and injured were scattered on the Liaquat Road. The screams of the injured were horrendous and the PPP workers were crying.
The rescuers of 1122 and Civil Defence, along with ambulances of Rescue 1122, Edhi Service, Red Crescent and different hospitals reached the site and rushed the injured to the District Headquarter Rawalpindi General Hospital and Holy Family Hospital. The high-ups of the district administration and police reached the spot and o completely cordoned off the area.
It was the second assassination attempt on Benazir Bhutto after her return from almost eight years in self-exile. On October 18, when she reached Karachi from abroad, her welcome rally from the Karachi Airport to her residence was hit by two powerful bombs, which left more than 140 people dead near Karsaz area in Karachi.
It was the second high profile assassination in historic Liaquat Bagh of Rawalpindi, as on October 16, 1952 Pakistan's first prime minister Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was shot dead by a person who was later killed on the spot. The Liaquat Bagh was previously known as Company Bagh.
Benazir is the second person of her family who died in Rawalpindi as her father, former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in old Rawalpindi District Jail (now Jinnah Park) on April 4, 1979. Two of her brothers, Shahnawaz Bhutto and Murtaza Bhutto, were also assassinated in France and Karachi.
Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and PML-N leader visited the Rawalpindi General Hospital where the dead body of Benazir Bhutto was lying. Nawaz Sharif sympathised with PPP leaders and workers and said that PPP workers are not alone after the death of Benazir Bhutto;s he and his party are with them in this hour of grief.
The death of the first ever Muslim lady prime minister caused panic in Rawalpindi and other parts of the country and angry PPP workers attacked the Rawalpindi General Hospital and broke the gates and windows of the hospital. They burned tyres outside the hospital and on all the main roads of Rawalpindi city. Shops were closed and the city gave a deserted look.