Up to 110 people were killed and over 200 others injured in two
suicide blasts near former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto's vehicle in the southern port city of Karachi early Friday
morning, local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported.
The twin blasts occurred near the truck, which carried Benazir
Bhutto after she arrived at the Karachi airport on Thursday, the
DAWN NEWS report said.
Benazir Bhutto who returned to the country after eight years of
exile was not on the top of the truck and survived the attacks. She
remained unhurt and arrived at the Bilawal house in Karachi,
according to DAWN NEWS.
No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide blast
attacks.
However, a local commander of pro-Taliban militants had earlier
threatened to launch attacks on Bhutto after her return schedule
was announced. A security official said about 18,000 to 20,000
security personnel including police and rangers were deployed in
the city to ensure fool-proof security arrangements for Bhutto.
Bhutto departed from Dubai and arrived at the Karachi
international airport on Thursday afternoon, receiving warm welcome
from hundreds of thousands of zealous supporters of her Pakistan
People's Party (PPP).
Bhutto had planned to speak to the general public at a PPP
meeting at Quaid's mazar, which had been canceled after the suicide
attacks.
The PPP leader Nisar Khuhro blamed the Sindh government for the
blasts while the PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar was quoted by
local media as saying that Bhutto wanted the intelligence bureau
chief to be sacked.
President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz
condemned the suicide attacks.
Bhutto, Chairperson of PPP, served twice as Prime Minister of
Pakistan in late 1980s and mid-1990s. She went into a self-imposed
exile in 1999 to evade corruption charges against her.
(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2007)
