Pakistan in turmoil as Bhutto assassinated

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber as she left a public rally today.

Ms Bhutto, twice the country's prime minister, was shot in the neck and body by a suicide bomber who then blew themselves up as she was driven from the rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

"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 Ms Bhutto had died in the explosion that also killed at least another 20 people.

Her lawyer said: "The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred."

She had just addressed thousands of people in a public park as part of her campaign for the country's parliamentary elections which are due on January 8.

A spokesman for her party said her vehicle was about 50 yards away from blast. "She had just crossed the gate when we heard a deafening sound. We could feel its impact."

Party supporter Chaudry Mohammed Nazir said that two gunshots rang out when Bhutto's vehicle pulled into the main street and then there was a big blast next to her car.

Police cordoned off the street with white and red tape, and rescue workers rushed to put victims in ambulances as people wailed nearby.

Body parts, pieces of clothing and party banners were scattered on the street. The clothing of some of the victims was shredded and people put party flags over their bodies. Police caps and shoes littered the area.

It was the second suicide attack aimed at Ms Bhutto in two months.

Her homecoming parade in the southern city of Karachi from an eight-year exile on October 18 was also targeted, killing more than 140 people.

Earlier, hundreds of riot police had manned security checkpoints to guard the venue. It was Ms Bhutto's first public meeting in Rawalpindi since she came back to the country.

Rahman Malik, Ms Bhutto's security adviser, said: "She was the prime target. I have been told by eyewitnesses that someone first opened fire and then detonated the bomb … We had information that Benazir Bhutto's life is in danger."

In November, Ms Bhutto had also planned a rally in the city, but President Pervez Musharraf forced her to cancel it, citing security fears.

In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital where Mr Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army has its headquarters.

Earlier today, pro-government party supporters clashed with backers of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif a few miles from Rawalpindi, killing four people and wounding three.

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.

Ms Bhutto, 54, served twice as Pakistan’s prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile last October after agreeing an amnesty deal with President Musharraf over corruption charges.

Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion, she narrowly escaped injury.