Just seeing this report: Pakistan’s Bhutto Killed by Bombing

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.

“At 6:16 p.m. she expired,” said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack.

A senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, confirmed that Bhutto had died.

More as I find it.

UPDATE: Reuters

Police said a suicide bomber fired shots at Bhutto as she was leaving the rally venue in a park before blowing himself up.

“The man first fired at Bhutto’s vehicle. She ducked and then he blew himself up,” said police officer Mohammad Shahid.

Police said 16 people had been killed in the blast.

UPDATES BELOW

AP is reporting:

Seven explosions hit Bombay’s commuter rail network Tuesday evening during rush hour, ripping apart train compartments, officials said. Indian television reported dozens may have been killed.

[...]

The blasts appeared to have come in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants that have repeatedly targeted India’s cities.

[...]

All of India’s major cities were reportedly on high alert following the attacks, which came hours after a series of grenade attacks by Islamic extremists killed eight people in the main city of India’s part of Kashmir.

More as it is reported.

In the latest report:

Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan in war after they gained independence from Britain in 1947, and they fought another full-scale conflict over the region in 1965.

But even as the two nuclear rivals have talked peace in the past two years, New Delhi has continued to accuse Pakistan of training, arming and funding the militants. Islamabad insists it only offers the rebels diplomatic and moral support.

Oh, well that’s nice.

UPDATE: Many sources are reporting the death toll at over 130 and injuries nearing 400. Both numbers are expected to increase as the search and rescue effort continues.

UPDATE II: The bombings are being described as a “Coordinated attack”:

Seven bombs hit Bombay’s commuter rail network during rush hour Tuesday evening, killing 131 people and wounding more than 300 in what authorities called a well-coordinated terrorist attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the bombings, which came in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants.

New York has reacted by hiking security:

New York City increased its transit security Tuesday with more officers patrolling the subways and more random bag searches after a deadly bombings on Bombay, India’s commuter rail network.

The New York Police Department said the measures were precautionary and there had been no specific threat to New York.

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Damadola appears to be quite the hotspot for terrorist dining.

A captured al-Qaida leader told interrogators that he and the terror group’s second in command met last year at the same home hit by a U.S. missile strike last week, Pakistani intelligence officials said Saturday.

Ayman al-Zawahri, the al-Qaida No. 2, was the apparent target of the Jan. 13 attack but apparently was not at the home when it and two other residences in the town near the Afghan border were destroyed by U.S. missiles.

Pakistani authorities nonetheless suspect al-Qaida operatives had gathered for dinner that night at the home in Damadola to plan attacks early this year in Afghanistan and Pakistan, an intelligence official said.

Al-Zaqahri and other al-Qaida officials had met there at least once before, in early 2005, according to Pakistani officials, who said they learned the details from interrogations of Abu Farraj al-Libbi, once al-Qaida’s No. 3 leader.

So much for the poor jewler/smuggler story.

It seems as if there was good intelligence regarding this location. If we did miss al-Zawahri due to his change of plans, it does not undermine the information that was used.

Al-Libbi said he had met with al-Zawahri at the house months before his arrest, one Pakistani security official said, adding “his statement was later verified, and we were able to confirm that al-Zawahri visited Damadola.”

U.S. and Pakistani intelligence – helped by area tribesmen and other Afghans – began monitoring Khan’s home after al-Libbi’s confession, officials said.

The Pakistani officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity due to the issue’s sensitivity, believe at least four foreign militants may have died in last week’s attack, including an al-Qaida explosives and chemical weapons expert and a son-in-law of al-Zawahri. Also killed were 13 villagers, including Bakhtpur Khan, whose home had been the site of the 2005 meeting, the officials said.

Let’s call this a successful miss. Perhaps al-Zawahri will keep his next reservation. We have a table waiting for him close to the fire.

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