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Benazir Bhutto Assassination Third Anniversary: Pakistan's Former Prime Minister's Life In Photos

Benazir Bhutto Assassination Third Anniversary: Pakistan's Former Prime Minister's Life In Photos
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Monday marked the third anniversary of the slaying of Benazir Bhutto, and judging by the thousands of Pakistanis who gathered to mourn their nation's ex-prime minister, the democracy and human rights advocate's powerful legacy remains alive throughout the troubled nation.

As the AFP is reporting, loyalists from across the country descended on her grave in the southern village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, beating their chests and chanting "Bhutto was alive yesterday and Bhutto is alive today." The first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country, Bhutto was killed Dec. 27, 2007 in a Taliban-led gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi, not far from the capital Islamabad.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari spoke to the crowds who gathered to honor his late wife, pledging allegiance to her vision of transforming Pakistan into a modern democratic state. "This government, your government will complete its five-year term and we will hold transparent elections after that because we want democracy to flourish in Pakistan," Zardari is quoted by the AFP as saying. He went on to note, "We pay tribute to her courage and leadership...we also vow to continue to fight for the values she upheld and laid down her life for."

View a timeline of Benazir Bhutto's life here:

Benazir Bhutto Timeline
1976(01 of15)
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After spending her childhood in Pakistan and embarking on her higher eduction at Harvard, Bhutto is elected president of the Oxford Union while reading PPE at Lady Margaret Hall. (credit:Getty File )
Apr 4, 1979(02 of15)
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Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (at left), is executed for the murder of a political opponent, two years after he was ousted as prime minister in a military coup. (credit:Getty)
Apr 10, 1986(03 of15)
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Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People’s Party that her father founded. (credit:Getty )
Dec. 1, 1988 (04 of15)
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The 35-year-old Bhutto becomes the first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation after winning parliamentary elections. (credit:Getty )
Oct 19, 1993(05 of15)
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Though her government was dismissed in 1990 on grounds of corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence, Bhutto takes the oath for a second term as prime minister. (credit:Getty )
Nov 5, 1996(06 of15)
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Bhutto's second administration is dismissed amid accusations of nepotism and undermining the justice system. (credit:Getty )
April 14, 1999(07 of15)
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A court finds Bhutto guilty of corruption while she is out of the country. The conviction was later quashed, but Bhutto (seen here in a 1999 BBC interview) remains in self-imposed exile, living in Britain and Dubai. (credit:Getty )
Oct 5, 2007(08 of15)
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President Pervez Musharraf signs a corruption amnesty covering other cases against Bhutto, opening the way for her return and a possible power-sharing agreement. (credit:Getty )
Oct. 18, 2007 (09 of15)
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Bhutto flies in to Karachi and her welcoming parade is hit by a suicide attack, killing 136. She later accused the government of a cover-up in the investigation. (credit:Getty )
Oct. 27, 2007 (10 of15)
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Bhutto leaves Karachi for the first time since the attack and is greeted by 4,000 jubilant supporters chanting “Long live Bhutto!” in her ancestral village of Garhi Khuda Baksh in Sindh province. (credit:Getty )
Nov. 3, 2007 (11 of15)
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President Musharraf announces emergency rule. Calling it "Pakistan’s blackest day,” Bhutto threatens to bring her supporters on to the streets in mass demonstrations. (credit:Getty )
Nov. 9, 2010 (12 of15)
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Bhutto is put under house arrest in Lahore to prevent her leading a pro-democracy rally and security forces round up thousands of her supporters. (credit:Getty )
Nov. 13, 2007 (13 of15)
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Authorities put Bhutto under house arrest for a second time in a week, when she calls for the first time for President Musharraf to quit and bring an end to his “contaminated’’ rule of Pakistan. She says she would no longer pursue power-sharing talks with "a dictator." (credit:Getty )
Nov. 30, 2007 (14 of15)
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Bhutto launches her campaign manifesto, promising jobs, housing and healthcare. The move defies an all-opposition party election boycott. The politician and former cricketer Imran Khan accuses her of betrayal. (credit:Getty )
Dec. 27, 2007 (15 of15)
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After speaking at an election rally, Bhutto is assassinated in a Rawalpindi bomb attack. An estimated 15 people are left dead by the explosion. (credit:Getty )

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