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Victim’s Families, Survivors Mark 12th Anniversary of Karsaz Bombings

KARACHI: The families of victims and survivors are commemorating the 12th anniversary of the Karachi’s Karsaz bombings that killed around 200 people and injured more than 500 on October 18, 2007.

The Karsaz bombing attack was an attack on a motorcade carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The bombing occurred two months before she was assassinated.

Benazir Bhutto was safe, as two blasts detonated in the heart of the tightly-packed crowd causing carnage and chaos.The streets of Karachi ground to a halt to welcome the return of Benazir Bhutto, after an eight-year self-imposed exile during which she lived in Dubai and London.

Two explosions occurred in front of the rallying truck from which Benazir greeted her supporters and party members.

Police vehicles bore the brunt of the blasts, which completely destroyed three police vans and killed at least 20 policemen in the vehicles. Conflicting reports indicate that Benazir, who was not injured in the attack, was either sitting on top of the truck or had just climbed into the compartment of the truck at the time of the explosion. She was escorted to her residence, Bilawal house.

The victims were rushed to Jinnah, Civil, Liaquat National and Abbassi Shaheed Hospitals. In a press conference on 19 October 2007, Benazir Bhutto said that her security team was unable to prevent the attack because of the street light being turned off, and called for an inquiry into why this happened.

On 20 October, authorities released a photograph of the suspect responsible for the suicide attack.

On 23 October, Pakistani Prime Minister Shoukat Aziz rejected PPP demand for a probe into the suicide blast by foreign experts, expressing confidence that Pakistani law-enforcement agencies can probe in a very objective manner. The police and allied agencies are still clueless about the perpetrators of the twin bomb attacks on the homecoming procession of Benazir Bhutto despite the passage of 12 years.

Three inquiry committees have been constituted since 2008 to trace the mastermind, handlers, and executors of the attack, but to no avail.