Bhutto's Return Rocked By Explosions
Dozens of people have been killed in two explosions near to where former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was being welcomed home.
Ms Bhutto's truck had just passed when the blasts happened in Karachi, only hours after she ended her eight-year exile.
She was unhurt and has been taken to her house in the city.
But at least 34 people have been killed and around 100 others wounded, police say.
An initial small explosion was followed by a huge blast just feet from the vehicle.
Ms Bhutto's procession was heading to a rally near the tomb of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, when the attacks happened.
Hundreds of thousands of people had lined the route to see her and it is not known if she will attend the rally.
Militants linked to al Qaeda, angered by her support for the US war on terrorism, had threatened to assassinate her.
Earlier, she pledged to fight for democracy as she ended her exile amid chaotic scenes at Karachi airport.
With tears in her eyes as she walked off the plane that had brought her from Dubai, Ms Bhutto waved at supporters and said: "I feel good."
1 comment:
I think her people had publicised the route in advance. It was designed to be a triumphal return after all. And her supporters really did turn out en masse.
It could still have been the work of the ISI of course. Or the taliban.
The degree of injury and loss of life has been staggering. Perhaps the procession thing was a mistake, but she is going to have to go out electioneering, and that will also draw crowds. Sooner or later, she has to take that risk.
Monty
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