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Political violenceUnsolved

Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

Shots were fired at her after a political rally at Liaqat National Bagh, and a suicide bomb was detonated immediately following the shooting.

Place
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Date
27 Dec 2007
Status
UnsolvedNo person has been convicted, and the case remains unresolved.
Sources
2 cited sources

Updated 23 Aug 2026

Overview

Case overview

Shots were fired at her after a political rally at Liaqat National Bagh, and a suicide bomb was detonated immediately following the shooting. An investigation of the assassination by the United Nations stated that "Ms. [1]

On 8 February 2008, investigators from Scotland Yard concluded that Benazir Bhutto died after hitting her head as she was tossed by the force of a suicide blast, not from an assassin's bullet. Ministry spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema said that the ministry would wait for forensic investigations before making a conclusion on Bhutto's cause of death. [2]

Benzir Bhutto's death place mark
Benzir Bhutto's death place markKhalid Mahmood · CC BY-SA 3.0 · View original ↗
Standard chronology

Key events

5 sourced milestones

Major events in the case, shown in chronological order.

  1. The investigation develops

    Muñoz was supported by the Indonesian official Marzuki Darusman and Peter FitzGerald, a retired Irish police officer who headed the initial inquiry into the assassination of Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005.

    Source: Wikipedia ↗
  2. A central event is documented

    Bhutto had previously survived a similar attempt on her life in Karachi (the 2007 Karsaz bombing) that killed at least 180 people, after her return from exile two months earlier.

    Source: Wikipedia ↗
  3. A central event is documented

    Ministry spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema said that the ministry would wait for forensic investigations before making a conclusion on Bhutto's cause of death.

    Source: Wikipedia ↗
  4. A central event is documented

    On 1 January 2008, Pakistan's Interior Ministry backtracked on its statement that Benazir Bhutto had died from hitting her head on the sunroof latch.

    Source: Wikipedia ↗
  5. A central event is documented

    On 8 February 2008, investigators from Scotland Yard concluded that Benazir Bhutto died after hitting her head as she was tossed by the force of a suicide blast, not from an assassin's bullet.

    Source: Wikipedia ↗
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Assassination of Benazir Bhutto: timeline and sources — Global Case Archive