Date: 18 October 2007

Location: Karachi, Pakistan

Type of event: terrorism

Description:

Bombings occurred in a crowd greeting the former prime minister of Pakistan in Karachi, Pakistan. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a target of Islamic militants, was in a motorcade moving slowly through crowds from an airport to the center of Karachi. As the convoy approached a bridge, the streetlights were out. A terrorist threw a grenade near the convoy; after the grenade exploded, he attempted to approach Bhutto's vehicle before detonating 15-20 kg of explosives. This larger explosion occurred a few meters from Bhutto's vehicle, setting a police escort van on fire, and breaking windows in Bhutto's truck. Bhutto was reportedly uninjured, but 50 of her security guards were killed. Two police vehicles were destroyed. Casualties, which included some children, were being treated at six hospitals, with 140 killed (plus the terrorist) and 540 injured as of 20 October.

Consequences: 141 killed, 540 injured

References:

• BBC, 19 Oct. 2007, "Bhutto points finger over blasts," BBC News, on line [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7052310.stm].
• CNN, 18 Oct. 2007, "Blasts near Bhutto's convoy kill at least 124 in Pakistan," CNN, on line [http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/18/pakistan.explosions/index.html?eref=yahoo].
• Gall, Carlotta, 21 Oct. 2007, "Hospitals full of victims and solidarity with Bhutto," New York Times, on line [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/world/asia/21pakistan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin].
• Pennington, Matthew, and Paisley Dodds, 18 Oct. 2007, "Blasts ner Bhutto kill 126 in Pakistan," Yahoo! News, on line [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071018/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_68].
• VOA News, 20 Oct. 2007, "Pakistani police release photo of suspected Bhutto motorcade bomber," VOA News, on line [http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-20-voa7.cfm].

© 2017 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 26 November 2017.
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