Benazir Bhutto, the two-time ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi on Thursday (December 27, 2007) when she was returning from a campaign rally. She had survived a similar attack in Karachi in October when she returned from exile (2 bombings in which some 134 people were killed).

Reports say a suicide bomber fired shots at Bhutto as she was leaving the rally at Liaqut Bagh before blowing himself up. She was hit in the neck and chest and died at the hospital at 6:15 pm on Thursday.

Over 25 people are reported killed in the blast.

"She has been martyred," said party official Rehman Malik.

According to AP news, hundreds of supporters had gathered at the political rally, which was being held at Liaqut Bagh, a park that is a common venue for political rallies and speeches, in Rawalpindi. ARY-One captured images of the scene of the assassination.

This attack comes just days after President Pervez Musharraf lifted a state of emergency and raises questions about whether parliamentary elections can be held as scheduled on Jan 8.

Sadly, Pakistani politics is becoming increasingly bloodier since the hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir’s father.

Benazir will haunt the Pakistani politicians and politics, for good or bad, for quite some time. Her departure has left a big void in Pakistani politics and is sure to affect what is destined to happen in the near future.

She was said to be the second most influential woman in politics in the world after Hillary Clinton.