At least 136 killed in anti-Bhutto bombing

Police suspected the bombing was linked to a pro-Taliban warlord based near the Afghan border who had reportedly threatened to attack Ms Bhutto’s return, but there was no claim of responsibility.

The devastating attack cast a pall over her talks with president General Pervez Musharraf which have raised the prospect of them forming a moderate, pro-US alliance.

Leaders of her Pakistan People’s Party were meeting at her Karachi home today, and Ms Bhutto was expected to hold a news conference afterwards.

Gen Musharraf was “deeply shocked” by the midnight explosions, which went off near a truck carrying Ms Bhutto through Karachi, tearing victims apart and throwing a fireball into the night sky.

The general “condemned this attack in the strongest possible words. He said this was a conspiracy against democracy”, the state-run news agency said.

Gen Musharraf appealed for calm and promised an exhaustive investigation and stiff punishment for those responsible.

The attack shattered the windows of the truck carrying Ms Bhutto, but police said she was unhurt and was hurried to her house.

Officials at six hospitals in Karachi reported 136 dead and around 250 wounded, making it one of the deadliest bombings in Pakistan’s history.

Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said 113 people died, including 20 policemen, and 300 people were wounded.

Police collected forensic evidence today – picking up pieces of flesh and discarded shoes from the site of the bombing.

The truck was hoisted away using a crane. One side of the truck, including a big portrait of the former premier, was splattered with blood and riddled with shrapnel holes.

A police investigator said pro-Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud’s group was suspected.

On the eve of Ms Bhutto’s arrival, a provincial government official cited intelligence reports that three suicide bombers linked to Mehsud were in Karachi.

The local government had also warned that Ms Bhutto could be targeted by the Taliban or al Qaida.

Earlier this month, local media reports quoted Mehsud – probably the most prominent leader of Islamic militants destabilising its north-western border regions near Afghanistan – as vowing to greet Ms Bhutto’s return to Pakistan with suicide attacks.

Karachi, which lies in the far south of Pakistan but has been buffeted by militant attacks in recent years, was quiet today. Schools were closed and traffic was thin, with city residents wary of venturing out.

Unrest broke out in two districts but did not appear serious. Hundreds of Bhutto supporters hurled stones at vehicles and shops during a funeral procession for two victims, forcing police to cordon off the area.

Elsewhere, Bhutto supporters ordered shops to close and burned tyres in the road.

Ms Bhutto flew home yesterday to lead her Pakistan People’s Party in January’s parliamentary elections after eight years in exile, drawing cheers from crowds that police put at 150,000.

The throngs reflected Ms Bhutto’s enduring political clout, but she has made enemies of Islamic militants by taking a pro-US line and negotiating a possible alliance with Gen Musharraf.

Ms Bhutto’s procession had been creeping toward the centre of Karachi for 10 hours, as supporters thronged her truck, when a small explosion erupted near the front of the vehicle.

That was quickly followed by a larger blast, destroying two escorting police vans.

The former premier had just gone to a downstairs compartment in the truck for a rest when the blast occurred.

In the aftermath, bodies lay in the street among pools of blood, broken glass, motorcycles and bits of clothing.

Some of the injured were rushed on stretchers into a hospital, and others were carried by rescuers in their arms.

The United States, the United Nations and the European Union condemned the attack.