NationStates Jolt Archive

108 die in blasts near Bhutto in Karachi
25 minutes ago

KARACHI, Pakistan - A suspected suicide bomber struck Thursday night near a truck carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on her triumphant return to Pakistan after eight years in exile. An official said 108 people were killed and many were wounded although Bhutto escaped unhurt.

Associated Press photographer B.K. Bangash at the scene said he saw between 50 and 60 dead or badly injured people. He said some of the bodies were ripped apart when the blast occurred more than 15 hours into a procession that was carrying Bhutto from the airport to the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, where she planned to give a speech.

"People were shouting for help but there was no one to help them out. It smelled like blood and smoke," said Bangash, who was 50 yards from Bhutto's truck when he heard a small blast just before midnight.

He went closer, and "then I saw a big explosion and dozens of people started running," he said. "It was a smaller car that was blown up. Another police van was fire."

He said the area was littered with bodies, many of them motorcyclists who were using their bikes because the roads were blocked.

Source:Yahoo/AP/OccNEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071018/ap_on_re_as/pakistan
ahhh damn.
So the anonymous tip was for real after all.

I wonder what will be the aftershocks of this targeted assassination-attempt-

Oh those silly extremists...they just keep shooting themselves in the foot. Too bad they cant do it without shooting everybody else in the foot too.

Oh those silly extremists...they just keep shooting themselves in the foot. Too bad they cant do it without shooting everybody else in the foot too.

You mean blowing everyone else up.

You mean blowing everyone else up.

*throws a metaphorical metaphore at you*

It was probably an Islamist doing it at the behest of the military.

It was probably a conservative American.

America is the root of evil, religion is the soil in which it grows, and the right to firearms are the thorns of temptation.

It was probably an Islamist doing it at the behest of the military.that is my first reaction, but

I am still trying to figure who wins and who loses with this failed targeted assassination.

Looks to me like -as a result- a great number of citizens is going to blame Pervez Musharraf or his supporters for this..

It was probably a conservative American.

America is the root of evil, religion is the soil in which it grows, and the right to firearms are the thorns of temptation.
I would imagine it was a Pakistani, and his religion would have been most likely Islam, and then on the other hand he's like the counterpart to American conservatives.

I would imagine it was a Pakistani, and his religion would have been most likely Islam, and then on the other hand he's like the counterpart to American conservatives.meh..

usually- religious conservatives have a lot in common.

Apparently, Al Qaida claimed they did it.

It was probably an Islamist doing it at the behest of the military.

I highly doubt that. The military is not THAT corrupt.

Apparently, Al Qaida claimed they did it.meh..

anyone can pickup a pay phone and say "I am AQ, I did it"..
In fact if I was with the CIA I would do it quite often.

I highly doubt that. The military is not THAT corrupt.LOL All military-es have some corrupt people..

It was probably an Islamist doing it at the behest of the military.

I can't see a Pakistani Islamist doing what the pro-Musharraf Pakistani military asks him to. Especially seeing as an alliance with Bhutto is Gen Musharraf's only hope of achieving something resembling stability in Pakistan.

LOL All military-es have some corrupt people..

...>.> I know what I said. Please re-read my statement, it makes perfect sense.

meh..

anyone can pickup a pay phone and say "I am AQ, I did it"..
In fact if I was with the CIA I would do it quite often.

That and AQ claims almost all terror attacks, even if they didn't do them.

That and AQ claims almost all terror attacks, even if they didn't do them.That too.. AQ is now a worldwide franchise.. ala NIKE.

If there isn't some element of the ISI involved in this, I'll eat my hat.

poor poor people,

I highly doubt that. The military is not THAT corrupt.

LOL.

Did not a previous military dictator - Zia ul Haq, kill Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Benazir's father, for the not so informed folks here) ?

The difference now is that US is backing BB and the military cannot go around killing people directly. So they use their dogs....like they do ever so often.

If there isn't some element of the ISI involved in this, I'll eat my hat.

You are catching up. ;)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/18/pakistan.explosions/index.html
Rivers and his crew were filming the motorcade just before the explosions. They had each noticed there appeared to be little security near the motorcade. That seemed odd, Rivers noted, considering the sizable security risk Bhutto presents. Bhutto's return angered some sectors in Pakistan because she was a female head of state who is perceived as being aligned with the United States.

"We remarked on how lax security was around her," Rivers told Blitzer after the explosions. "We got within touching distance of her vehicle. There was no security around, nobody stopping vehicles getting close to [the motorcade]."

Benazir is getting a taste of what she dished out.

It was under Benazir's rule that the original taliban was formed and the jihadis intensified their mayhem in Kashmir. She may not have directly formulated those policies by the army, but she chose to turn a blind eye to those policies.

My sympathies are with the dead innocents. Not with Benazir. At least not until she demonstrates clearly that her earlier opportunistic dealings with jihadis are not going to repeat.

A bit before the explosion Bhutto had been giving a speech/talking. Then she headed into a safe compartment (nothing special, just the sort of thing any important/famous person has), and soon after the first explosion came, and then the second shortly after that. Had Bhutto talked for a few more minutes, it could have very well killed her. So, was it a last second save by her security people or was it set up to get her support?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/world/asia/18cnd-pakistan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
General Musharraf, according to a statement released by state media, condemed the attack “in the strongest possible words,” calling it “a conspiracy against democracy."

Irony of the day.

and soon after the first explosion came, and then the second shortly after that. Had Bhutto talked for a few more minutes, it could have very well killed her. So, was it a last second save by her security people or was it set up to get her support?

I am guessing ISI directed jihadi attack in at least one of the blasts. There appears to be two blasts, one by a Pajero vehicle going off and another by a suicide bomber. It could very well be two different operations. Difficult to say..due to the layers and layers that you have to peel to get to the truth.


http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers25%5Cpaper2417.html
Bin Laden's Former Handling Officer Was In Charge of Benazir's Security - International Terrorism Monitor---Paper No. 288

By B. Raman

According to latest reports, at least one hundred and thirty-two persons---20 of them police officers deputed to protect Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister--- were killed in a suspected suicide attack on the convoy by which she was being taken from the Karachi airport to the Mausoleum of Mohammad Ali Jinnah on the night of October 18,2007.The suicide attack or attacks were clearly aimed to kill her on her arrival in Karachi to a triumphant welcome by her supporters, but she managed to escape.

2. Reliable sources say one or two suicide bombers were involved. The bullet-proof vehicle by which she was being taken by her supporters was protected by two cordons of security guards. The inner cordon consisted of security guards engaged by her Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians to protect her. Many of them were former policemen and ex-servicemen enjoying the confidence of her party and her confidence. The outer cordon consisted of police officers of the Sindh Police and plain-clothes security officers of Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau, which is now headed by Brig. Ejaz Shah, a former officer of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), who is a close personal friend of Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Gen. (retd). Mohammad Aziz, a Kashmiri officer belonging to the Sudan tribe, who orchestrated the overthrow of Mr. Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister in October, 1999. Shah is also a close personal friend of many Punjabi leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaide Azam), which is opposed to Benazir's return.

3. According to these sources, the suicide bomber or bombers managed to penetrate the security cordon of the Police and IB officers without being frisked, but could not penetrate the inner cordon of security guards of the PPPP. When they stopped them, they blew themselves up at a distance from her vehicle. At the time of the explosion, she was not standing on top of the vehicle. She had gone inside the vehicle to rest for a while. This seems to have contributed to her miraculous escape. Had she been standing on top she might have been injured, if not killed.

4. There are many elements in Pakistan and in Karachi itself, which are opposed to her and are determined to prevent her return to power. These include the various jihadi terrorist groups, Al Qaeda and its allies, those involved in the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl and the supporters of Dawood Ibrahim, the Indian mafia leader, who has been given shelter in Karachi by the Pakistani intelligence agencies. The anger against her is due to various reasons---- the fact that she is a woman, her close proximity to the US and her open statements supporting the US on various issues. They see her as the US' cat's paw. It is difficult to say at present who might have been responsible for the attack on her.