Benazir Bhutto the Target of a Suicide Attack that Killed 140

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Benazir Bhutto’s triumphant return to her home country was marred by the worst suicide bombing in the country’s history.

Near midnight on Thursday, Bhutto’s truck was among others traveling through the streets of Karsaz, Pakistan, when a suicide bomber allegedly tossed a grenade toward Bhutto’s security detail. The first bomb was designed as a distraction which allowed the attacker to get much closer to Bhutto’s vehicle, where he then detonated his vest. Other theories propose that there were two attackers.

Bhutto was not injured in the attack, but nearly 140 people were killed and 400 wounded, in what has been described by current President General Perez Musharraf as the worst terrorist attack in Pakistan’s history.

Ghulam Mohammed Mohtarem, Pakistan’s Home Secretary, told the press, "We have no doubt it was a suicide attack. It can’t be definitively said which group was involved, but it is one of the extremist groups."

Fears that she would be the target of just such an attack ran high before Bhutto’s return. In fact, she told reporters she had been warned of several planned attacks in advance. Saying only that her source had been "a brotherly country," she told the press that she had been warned of a planned attack by Al-Qaeda operatives, as well as one by the Taliban, and another extremist group. She passed the information to Pakistani government officials, but said that pursuing the attackers may be difficult.

In addition, Bhutto said she knew of several individuals within the Pakistani government itself who may have been involved. "I am not accusing the government, but I am accusing certain individuals who abuse their positions, who abuse their powers," said Bhutto to reporters. "I know in my heart who my enemies are."

Bhutto has been in self-imposed exile for eight years, after Musharraf seized power in 1999. The two had been negotiating recently, which prompted her return to Pakistan.

According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, President Musharraf phoned Bhutto and told her he would provide additional protection. "The president expressed his firm resolve that all possible steps would be taken and a thorough investigation would be carried out to bring the perpetrators to justice," said the report issued by the press group.

While deeply shaken by the attack, Bhutto says she remains undaunted in her task to bring democracy to Pakistan. "The attack was not on me, the attack was on what I represent, it was an attack on democracy, by those who are against the unity and integrity of Pakistan," she said.

Added Bhutto during a press conference from her family’s home in the southern Pakistani city of Clifton, "A minority wants to hijack the destiny of this great nation. And we will not be intimidated by this minority."