Benazir Bhutto assassinated

VIDEO - Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.

Bhutto was critically injured in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

Video: Reuters (רויטרס)

Bhutto, 54, died in hospital in Rawalpindi. Ary-One Television said she had been shot in the head. "At 6:16pm she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital. A senior military official confirmed that Bhutto had died.

Police said a suicide bomber fired shots at Bhutto as she was leaving the rally venue in a park before blowing himself up. "The man first fired at Bhutto's vehicle. She ducked and then he blew himself up," said police officer Mohammad Shahid.

The previous attempt on Bhutto's life (Photo: Reuters)

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 Yaseen, a police officer, at the scene.

Police said about 20 people had been killed in the blast.

When news of Bhutto's death broke, her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog,Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf. Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears.

Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile on Oct. 18.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said the was the work of terrorists and he called on the people for their support. "This cruelty is the work of those terrorists with whom we are fighting," Musharraf said in a brief televised address.

"The biggest threat to Pakistan and this nation is from these terrorists," he said. "I seek unity and support from the nation ... We will not sit and rest until we get rid of these terrorists, root them out." He declared three days of mourning. 

'Assault on stability'

A suicide bomber killed nearly 150 people in an attack on Bhutto on Oct. 18 as she paraded through the southern city of Karachi after returning home from eight years in self-imposed exile.

"It is the act of those who want to disintegrate Pakistan because she was symbol of unity. They have finished the Bhutto family. They are enemies of Pakistan," Senior Bhutto party official Farzana said. 

"She has been martyred," said party official Rehman Malik.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said he was greatly disturbed by the murder, adding "Benazir Bhutto was a brave woman who did not conceal her opinions, knew no fear, and served her nation with unusual bravery and ability.

She was an immeasurably charismatic leader and a warrior for peace in her land and all the world," he said.

Meanwhile, President George W. Bush said in a statement to reporters at his Texas ranch that the assassination was an act of violence that shredded US efforts to promote democratic elections in a key ally in Bush's war on terrorism.

"The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy. Those who committed this crime must be brought to justice," he said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed shock and outrage at Bhutto's killing, calling it an "assault on stability" in Pakistan.

"I strongly condemn this heinous crime and call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible," Ban said in a statement.

Aviram Zino contributed to the report