![Pakistan officials arrest 2 suspects in Bhutto assassination](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] The Pakistani Interior Ministry has arrested two suspects for their alleged involvement in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive], officials said Thursday. The two men, identified only as Hasnain and Rafaqat, are said by the Pakistani government to be "two very important alleged terrorists." AFP has more. AP has additional coverage.
In January, Pakistani police arrested two other men [JURIST report] suspected of involvement with the assassination. One suspect told Pakistani investigators that he had been a member of a back-up squad sent by Baitullah Mehsud [BBC profile], a militant leader with strong ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban, and tasked with killing Bhutto if the December 27 attack had failed. Bhutto was assassinated [JURIST report] in a suicide attack on December 27 at a political rally in Rawalpindi.