Benazir Bhutto

Killed on 27 December 2007 at Rawalpindi in a gun and bomb attack claimed by factions of the Pakistani Taliban; the former prime minister died campaigning for election she was favored to win.

Overview

Bhutto, the first woman to head a Muslim-majority government, had returned from exile weeks earlier to contest the postponed elections, surviving a first attack on her homecoming convoy that killed over a hundred. Leaving a rally at Liaquat Bagh, she stood through her vehicle sunroof to greet supporters; gunfire and a suicide bombing followed, shrapnel or the blast impact striking her head. The UN commission blamed the Musharraf government security failures and the Pakistani Taliban network, with commander Baitullah Mehsud claiming credit; at least one alleged organizer was later killed by a drone strike. Her Pakistan Peoples Party rode her martyrdom to victory. Her husband Asif Zardari became president; her son Bilawal leads the party. The murder remains the hinge of Pakistan decade of violence.