Karachi blasts: Head of suicide bomber found

Karachi, Oct 20: The sources investigating into the failed suicide attempts on the life of former premier Benazir Bhutto have said that the head of another alleged suicide attacker has been found.

The head of this suicide bomber is in an extremely distorted condition and the police officers had brought it to the Jinnah Hospital, sources said.

The photographs of this suspected suicide bomber would be issued to media after the operation, they added.

Meanwhile, Sindh Home Secretary Brigadier (retired) Ghulam Mohammed Mohatarem termed the attack on the reception rally of Bhutto as a suicide bombing, and added that the bomber first threw a hand grenade at the rally to disrupt the security cordon and then blew himself up.

There is no doubt that the second explosion was a suicide attack, as the suicide bomber carried 15 kilograms of explosive material, Mohatarem told reporters.

He said that a hand grenade thrown inside the security cordon of Bhutto by the suicide bomber or any of his accomplices to divert the attention of the security personnel caused the first explosion.

The device was made of steel bits, screws and nuts and bolts to make it more lethal. He said the grenade was identified as Russian-made 'Archer" and it weighed one kilogram.

Mohatarem said that he could not be sure whether the head found from near the incident place was that of the suicide bomber and the identity would be established once the interrogation is completed.

He said that the police mobile van preceding Bhutto"s truck was completely damaged and it saved the truck carrying Bhutto from much damage.

Earlier on Friday, police had issued the sketch of the first suicide bomber.

The severed head of the suspected suicide bomber, whose attack killed around 139 people here late last night, was found on Friday.

"We have found the severed head of a man from the blast site and are certain that he is the bomber," The News quoted senior police official as telling a foreign news agency.

At least 139 people were killed and hundreds injured late on Thursday night as suspected suicide bombers tried to attack Bhutto's convoy on her return to the country after eight-year self-imposed exile.

Two explosions went off a minute apart shortly after midnight near Karsaz close to the vehicle Bhutto was travelling in, at the head of a procession of hundreds of thousands of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) supporters who had flooded the streets of Karachi to welcome her.

The attack reportedly bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda and resembled assassination attempts by militants linked to the terrorist network on President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in recent years.

ANI>