Just got word that former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto was killed at a rally this morning. She was apparently shot in the neck by an assailant. The attacker was allegedly wearing a suicide vest. Details are sketchy right now.
More to follow.
[UPDATE] 8:24 am Reuters is reporting that she has been been gravely injured but, is in fact still alive.
From Reuters:
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was seriously wounded in an attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi, her husband said.
“I was informed that she is badly injured,” Asif Ali Zardari told Ary-One television from Dubai.
CONFIRMED: 8:32 am She has died. A tragic moment in history. Yet again the democratic process has been derailed by fanatics and madmen. Was this a terrorist group or a political assassination by rivals? Only time will tell.
References:
BBC News
CNN
Washington Post
ABC News
CBC News
[UPDATE] OK, after having watched 24 hours (not literally) of CNN’s “breaking news” on this story I’m struck by something. Have we seen this before? Shortly after the attack Pervez Musharraf was saying that it was a terrorist attack. OK, so that would be anyone’s first guess. But, consider the source. He has a lot to gain by having Bhutto leave the playing field as it were. Before you start crying conspiracy nut read this on CNN.
The source of the claim was apparently Italian news agency, Adnkronos International (AKI), which said that al Qaeda Afghanistan commander and spokesman Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid had telephoned the agency to make the claim.
“We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen,” AKI quoted Al-Yazid as saying.
According to AKI, al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri set the wheels in motion for the assassination in October.
One Islamist Web site repeated the claim, but that Web site is not considered a reliable source for Islamist messages by experts in the field.
The DHS official said the claim was “an unconfirmed open source claim of responsibility” and the bulletin was sent out at about 6 p.m. to state and local law enforcement agencies.
Hmm, the other sites aren’t chiming in. This is a group that is more than happy to take credit for bloodshed and mayhem yet, they are strangely quiet even as Bhutto is being laid to rest.
*cough* JFK *cough*
I’m just saying.
[tags]Benazir Bhutto, Bhutto, Pakistan Prime Minister, Assassination[/tags]
