Click to play videoRawalpindi: Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on Thursday by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself up.
At least 20 others were killed in the attack on the rally for January 8 parliamentary elections where the 54-year-old former prime minister had just spoken.
Angry supporters rioted in the southern port city of Karachi after her killing, firing shots at police, setting tires and cars on fire and burning a gas station. One person was killed north of Karachi in the violent aftermath of the assassination.
At the hospital where Benazir died, some supporters smashed glass and wailed, chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf blamed Islamic extremists for her death and said he would redouble his efforts to fight them.
''This is the work of those terrorists with whom we are engaged in war,'' he said in a nationally televised speech. ''I have been saying that the nation faces the greatest threats from these terrorists. ... We will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out.''
In the US, a tense looking President Bush strongly condemned the attack ''by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy.''
Musharraf convened an emergency meeting with his senior staff, where they were expected to discuss whether to postpone the elections, an official at the Interior Ministry said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister and leader of the PML (N), demanded Musharraf resign immediately and announced his party would boycott the upcoming election.
Assassin blew himself up
The attacker struck just minutes after Benazir addressed thousands of supporters in the Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. She was shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up, said Rehman Malik, Benazir's security adviser.
Sardar Qamar Hayyat, a leader from Benazir's party, said at the time of the attack he was standing about 10 yards away from her vehicle: a white, bulletproof SUV with a sunroof.
''She was inside the vehicle and was coming out from the gate after addressing the rally when some of the youths started chanting slogans in her favor. Then I saw a smiling Benazir emerging from the vehicle's roof and responding to their slogans,'' he said.
''Then I saw a thin, young man jumping toward her vehicle from the back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speeding vehicle going away,'' he added.
Mangled bodies lay in a pool of blood and pieces of clothing and shoes were scattered on the road. The clothing of some victims was shredded and people covered their bodies with party flags.
There was an acrid smell of explosive fumes in the air.
Police cordoned off the street and rescuers rushed to put victims in ambulances as onlookers wailed nearby.
Benazir was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergency surgery. She died about an hour after the attack.
Burial in hometown Larkana
Hours later, her body was carried out of the hospital in a plain wooden coffin by a crowd of supporters. Benazir's husband and children arrived in Islamabad early on Friday from Dubai to take the body of the slain leader to her ancestral home for burial.
Party officials said Bhutto would be buried in her native village of Garhi Khuda Baksh, in Larkana district, in her family graveyard next to her father.
A doctor on the team that treated her said she had a bullet in the back of the neck that damaged her spinal cord before exiting from the side of her head. Another bullet pierced the back of her shoulder and came out through her chest.
She was given open heart massage, but the main cause of death was damage to her spinal cord, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
''At 6.16 p.m. (6.46 pm IST) she expired,'' said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Benazir's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital.
''The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred,'' Benazir's lawyer Babar Awan said.
Benazir's supporters at the hospital exploded in anger, smashing the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit. Others burst into tears. One man with a flag of Benazir's Pakistan People's Party tied around his head was beating his chest.
''I saw her with my own eyes sitting in a vehicle after addressing the rally. Then, I heard an explosion,'' Tahir Mahmood, 55, said sobbing. ''I am in shock. I cannot believe that she is dead.''
Many chanted slogans against Musharraf, accusing him of complicity in her killing.
''We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paid no heed to our requests,'' said Malik, the security adviser.
As news of her death spread, angry supporters took to the streets.
In Karachi, shop owners quickly closed their businesses as protesters set tires on fire on the roads, torched several vehicles and burned a gas station, said Fayyaz Leghri, a local police official. Gunmen shot and wounded two police officers, he said.
One man was killed in a shootout between police and protesters in Tando Allahyar, a town north of Karachi, said Mayor Kanwar Naveed. In the town of Tando Jam, protesters forced passengers to get out of a train and then set it on fire.
Violence also broke out in Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and many other parts of Pakistan, where Benazir's supporters burned banks, state-run grocery stores and private shops. Some set fire to election offices for the ruling party, according to Pakistani media.
Akhtar Zamin, home minister for the southern Sindh province, said authorities would deploy troops to stop violence if needed.
Musharraf, who announced three days of mourning for Benazir, urged calm.
''I want to appeal to the nation to remain peaceful and exercise restraint,'' he said.
Sharif arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Benazir's body.
''Benazir was also my sister, and I will be with you to take the revenge for her death,'' he said. ''Don't feel alone. I am with you. We will take the revenge on the rulers.''
He rebutted suggestions that he could gain political capital from her demise, announcing his Muslim League-N party would boycott the elections and demanding that Musharraf resign.
''The holding of fair and free elections is not possible in the presence of Pervez Musharraf,'' he said. ''Musharraf is the cause of all the problems. The federation of Pakistan cannot remain intact in the presence of President Musharraf,'' he told a news conference.
''After the killing of BenazirBenazir, I announce that the Pakistan Muslim League-N will boycott the elections,'' Sharif said. ''I demand that Musharraf should quit immediately.''
Hours earlier, four people were killed at a rally for Sharif when his supporters clashed with backers of Musharraf near Rawalpindi.
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