Within hours of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, angry mobs took to the streets, attacking police patrols and government buildings.

Amid fears of a full-blown civil war, four people were reported killed in Karachi, the southern port city, where thousands of protesters fired shots, blocked roads with burning cars and torched government buildings. Two people were shot dead in the eastern city of Lahore and four people were reported killed in smaller towns in the eastern province of Sindh, Ms Bhutto’s stronghold. A mobset fire to a train in Hyderabad, in Sindh, and police fired teargas into crowds in Peshawar, in Pakistan’s volatile northwest.

The mood in Ms Bhutto’s home town of Larkana, Sindh, was tense. Crowds set two banks on fire. In the central city of Multan some protesters fired shots into the air and many shouted slogans, including “Long live Bhutto” and “Musharraf is a dog”, in reference to the President.

Paramilitary forces were put on red alert and told to clamp down on violent protest. “There is trouble almost everywhere,” a police official said.

Q&A: the murder of Benazir Bhutto

Times South Asia Correspondent asks who had most to gain from killing the Pakistan People's Party leader

Multimedia

• Video: Bhutto assassinated

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• Pictures: death of Benazir Bhutto

Background

• Pakistan in chaos as Benazir Bhutto assassinated

• Who killed Benazir Bhutto? Main suspects

• Obituary: Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

• Can democracy survive Bhutto killing?

Hundreds of Ms Bhutto’s supporters had gathered outside the hospital in Rawalpindi where she was taken. On hearing of her death, some just wept but many turned violent, smashing the glass door at the entrance of the emergency unit and throwing stones at cars. They clashed with the police, shouting: “Killer, killer, Musharraf”.

Leaders of Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party fanned the flames by accusing the Government of a fatal security lapse. “We repeatedly informed the Government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paid no heed to our requests,” said Rehmani Malik, a party spokesman.

Ms Bhutto had been the target of a twin suicide attack in Karachi in October but decided to continue campaigning for January’s elections. More than 140 people were killed in that attack.

In her last address Ms Bhutto, who was tipped strongly to become prime minister, called on Pakistanis to fight Islamic militancy, which she described as the biggest threat to the country’s security. Her pro-Western views had made her a target of Islamic militants, who had gained strength, particularly in the northwest. Baitullah Mehsud, a pro-al-Qaeda leader operating from the lawless Waziristan region, had threatened her with suicide attacks.

Blaming terrorists for Ms Bhutto’s death, President Musharraf vowed to redouble his efforts to fight them. “This is the work of those terrorists with whom we are engaged in war,” he said in a nationally televised speech.

“I have been saying that the nation faces the greatest threats from these terrorists. Today, after this tragic incident, I want to express my firm resolve. I express my resolve that – and I also seek solidarity from the nation and cooperation and help – we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out.”

The President announced three days of mourning, during which the flag would fly at half-mast, and called for calm: “I want to appeal to the nation to remain peaceful and exercise restraint.”

Birth of a nation

1947 Muslim state of East and West Pakistan created out of partition of India at the end of British rule. Hundreds of thousands die in violence, millions homeless

October 16, 1951 In same park in Rawalpindi where Benazir Bhutto was killed yesterday, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan is killed by Afghan extremist during a rally

1971 East Pakistan, supported by India, breaks away, eventually becoming Bangladesh

1973 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto’s father, becomes Prime Minister

1977 Accusations of vote rigging against PPP lead to civil unrest. General Zia ul-Haq seizes power

1979 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto hanged. Benazir Bhutto takes over PPP

1986 Benazir Bhutto returns from exile to lead PPP

August 1988 General Zia dies in an unexplained air crash

November 1988 Benazir Bhutto becomes Prime Minister

1990 President dismisses Bhutto. Nawaz Sharif wins election

1993 Sharif resigns under pressure from military. Bhutto reelected

1996 Bhutto again dismissed and goes into exile

1997 Sharif returned to power

October 1999 General Pervez Musharraf overthrows Sharif

April 2000 Sharif sentenced to life imprisonment on terrorism charges. Pardoned by Musharraf, he goes into exile in Saudi Arabia

June 20, 2001 Musharraf names himself President

April 2002 In a referendum on his leadership Musharraf is elected for another five years. Vote criticised as unconstitutional and unfair

August 2002 Musharraf gives himself authority to dismiss elected parliaments. First general election since coup returns a hung parliament. National Assembly selects pro-Musharraf Mir Zafarullah Jamali as Prime Minister

2003 Musharraf narrowly survives assassination attempt

August 2004 Shaukat Aziz is sworn in as Prime Minister. In July he escapes unhurt from an apparent assassination attempt

December 2004 Musharraf says he will stay head of Army despite previous promises to step down

2007 Musharraf suspends Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Strikes paralyse much of country

July 2007 Supreme Court reinstates Chief Justice Chaudhry. Bhutto and Musharraf discuss possible power-sharing deal

August 2007 Supreme Court rules Sharif can return from exile

September 2007 Sharif returns but is sent back before leaving his aircraft

October 2007 Musharraf wins presidential election but Supreme Court says result is invalid until it decides whether his candidacy was eligible. Bhutto returns and narrowly escapes suicide bombing

November 2007 Musharraf declares emergency, dismisses Chief Justice Chaudhry again. Pakistani Election Commission announces general elections to be held on January 8, 2008 and ratifies previous election of Musharraf

December 2007 State of emergency lifted

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