Up to 110 people were killed and over 200 others injured in two suicide blasts near former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's vehicle in the southern port city of Karachi early Friday morning, local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported.

 

 

The twin blasts occurred near the truck, which carried Benazir Bhutto after she arrived at the Karachi airport on Thursday, the DAWN NEWS report said.

 

Benazir Bhutto who returned to the country after eight years of exile was not on the top of the truck and survived the attacks. She remained unhurt and arrived at the Bilawal house in Karachi, according to DAWN NEWS.

 

No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide blast attacks.

 

However, a local commander of pro-Taliban militants had earlier threatened to launch attacks on Bhutto after her return schedule was announced. A security official said about 18,000 to 20,000 security personnel including police and rangers were deployed in the city to ensure fool-proof security arrangements for Bhutto.

 

Bhutto departed from Dubai and arrived at the Karachi international airport on Thursday afternoon, receiving warm welcome from hundreds of thousands of zealous supporters of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

 

Bhutto had planned to speak to the general public at a PPP meeting at Quaid's mazar, which had been canceled after the suicide attacks.

 

The PPP leader Nisar Khuhro blamed the Sindh government for the blasts while the PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar was quoted by local media as saying that Bhutto wanted the intelligence bureau chief to be sacked.

 

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz condemned the suicide attacks.

 

 

Bhutto, Chairperson of PPP, served twice as Prime Minister of Pakistan in late 1980s and mid-1990s. She went into a self-imposed exile in 1999 to evade corruption charges against her.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2007)