Pakistan suicide bombing
The death toll rose to 134 killed and 450 wounded Friday following explosions just feet from a truck carrying the returning opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Thursday night, in what regional authorities and Bhutto said was a suicide attack by Islamist militants.Bhutto had retreated inside the armored truck a few minutes before the attack and was unhurt, but scores of people were killed among the huge crowds of perhaps 200,000 or more. It was a bloody end to the triumphal tenor of her homecoming after eight years in exile. She was returning to lead her party in the parliamentary elections scheduled for January.
Some are calling this Pakistan’s 9-11. I am not sure that that metaphor is very exact, however it is undeniable that this is a major tragedy precipated by similar forces. I don’t like a lot of things about the Pakistani government, but I stand in complete solidarity with the Pakistani people and mourn this act of evil against them.
