Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack Thursday near the capital Islamabad Thursday, her party and interior ministry said.

The suicide attacker first opened fire at her as she got into her car and then blew himself near the car after Bhutto finished addressing an election rally in a park in Rawalpindi, some 30 kms south from Islamabad.

Police confirmed that Bhutto was shot by her attacker before he blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack Thursday outside a campaign rally. Witnesses said that around 20 other people were also killed and more than 40 injured in the attack.

Bhutto and her secretary Naheed Khan were taken to a local hospital in the city where she succumbed to injuries.

Information Secretary of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sherry Rehman was also injured.

Interior ministry Spokesman Brig (Retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said that the attacker struck while Bhutto was leaving the venue and the blast severely damaged her vehicle.

Doctors said that Bhutto was hit at her neck and chest and they tried to save her life.

Rehman Malik, Bhutto's security advisor, confirmed her death at6:13 p.m. (1313 GMT)

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif went to the hospital and expressed condolences with PPP leaders and workers and condemned the assassination.

He announced cancellation of election campaign of his party as a sign of solidarity with the PPP.

In major cities of Pakistan like Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, PPP supporters went on streets chanting anti-government slogans. They also burned tyres in several cities.

Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party, served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan on Oct. 18 after an eight-year exile.

Born on June 21, 1953 in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, Bhutto was the first woman to be a prime minister of the Muslim world. She was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan between 1988 and 1996.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is holding an emergency meeting at the presidency Thursday with top government officials after the assassination of Bhutto, state-run television reported.

Musharraf appealed to the nation to remain peaceful after the death of Bhutto "so that the evil designs of terrorists can be defeated," state TV said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2007)