Taliban terrorist linked to attack on Benazir Bhutto killed in Karachi

Karachi killed a takfiri Taliban terrorist ringleader responsible for suicidal bomb attacks in Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming rally on October 18, 2007 that killed 139 people. The twin blasts were a botched attempt to assassinate ex-premier Benazir Bhutto.

Firdous Khan was killed in an hour-long gunfight with police in the Manghopir neighbourhood of the country’s biggest city Karachi, said Usman Bajwa, a senior official in the Crime Investigations Department.

Bajwa said Khan was the mastermind of the devastating bombing near Bhutto’s truck at a political rally during her Pakistan homecoming parade in October 2007.
Bhutto survived the attack but was assassinated two months later in a gun and suicide bomb attack at a rally in Rawalpindi.

“Firdous Khan was a Taliban commander who acted as a facilitator and trained the suicide bomber and later took him to the target,” said Bajwa.

Bajwa said the shootout took place between Monday night and Tuesday morning. Other militants escaped during the exchange of fire by taking advantage of the darkness, he said.

Karachi, a city of 18 million people which contributes 42 percent of Pakistan’s GDP, has been plagued by sectarian, ethnic and political violence for years.

The city is also racked by militants, especially the Taliban.

Thousands have been killed in the insurgency by the takfiri terrorists of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan since it began in 2007, according to an estimate.