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132 killed in suicide attacks

* Former PM safe, whisked away to Bilawal House
* Sindh IG says militants have threatened more attacks on Benazir
* At least one explosion was caused by suicide bomber

By Amar Guriro and Urooj Zia

KARACHI: At least 132 people were killed and hundreds injured late on Thursday night as suspected suicide bombers targeted former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on her return from eight years in self-imposed exile.
Two explosions went off a minute apart shortly after midnight near Karsaz close to the vehicle Ms Bhutto was travelling in, at the head of a procession of hundreds of thousands of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supporters who had flooded the streets of Karachi to welcome the return of their leader.
The attack bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda and resembled assassination attempts by militants linked to the terrorist network on President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in recent years. Intelligence reports also warned of threats of suicide attacks against Ms Bhutto by militants linked to Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Baitullah Mehsud, the Sindh home secretary said on Wednesday.
“The blasts hit two police vehicles which were escorting the truck carrying Ms Bhutto. The target was the truck,” senior Karachi police official Azhar Farooqui told Reuters.
Benazir safe: Ms Bhutto was leading the procession to Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum, where she was to give a speech. However, after the two explosions, she was rushed to the safety of Bilawal House.
“Benazir Bhutto was immediately taken to her ancestral Bilawal House after the blast,” Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told AFP. “She’s absolutely safe.” Rehman Malik, an aide to Ms Bhutto who was travelling with her on the truck, said the blasts went off while she was resting inside the vehicle.
Rescuers scrambled to drag bodies from the twisted wreckage of blazing vehicles as fires broke out at the site. “More than two dozen vehicles, including police mobile units, were completely shattered,” eyewitnesses told Daily Times.
Militant threats: Sindh IG Ziaul Hassan told Geo news late last night that militants have threatened more suicide attacks against Ms Bhutto. “There were two blasts, one on the left side and one on the right side of the procession,” Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said. “It appears these were suicide attacks, but it is not confirmed.”
Suicide bombing: SP Raja Umer Khitab told Daily Times the first blast was a suicide attack. He said the police had recovered part of a torso wearing a suicide jacket, as well as the head and hands and feet of the suicide bomber.
According to witnesses, the bomber tried to enter the inner security cordon of PPP workers around Ms Bhutto but was stopped, and then he set off the explosion. Witnesses said the second blast originated from a golden-coloured Pajero parked on the road. Forty dead bodies were taken to the Liaquat National Hospital, 60 to the JPMC, 27 to Civil Hospital, two to AKUH and three to Zubaida Medical Centre, a death toll of 132, hospital officials told Daily Times.
Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation said at least 90 people had been killed and over 300 injured. Among the dead were said to be 20 policemen and several journalists.
Rioting: Rioting and gunfire broke out in Dalmia, Malir, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and the National Highway after the two bomb blasts, and the protesters set fire to a petrol pump on the Super Highway. At Liaquat National Hospital, PPP activists shouted slogans insulting the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Some 20,000 security personnel had been deployed in Karachi to provide protection for Ms Bhutto.

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