Benazir Bhutto's long-awaited return to Pakistan last Thursday would, her supporters hoped, herald a new dawn in the nation's chequered political history. Instead, it will always be associated with the terrorist atrocities that greeted it. Her return was designed to apply huge pressure on beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf, but now both politicians' efforts and attention will be dominated by those events. Despite warnings of possible attacks and offers of helicopter transport, Ms Bhutto chose to leave the airport in an open-top truck in a motorcade deliberately crawling at a snail's pace. That was designed to make a very specific point, as she noted to international journalists travelling with her. Namely, that the 'politically motivated' corruption charges that kept her out of the country had failed in their key purpose of destroying her public standing. That choice backfired with horrible consequences. Ms Bhutto is alive to fight another day, but the newspaper headlines were not dominated by news of her return, but by the carnage that accompanied it. Ms Bhutto's husband immediately accused rogue intelligence forces of involvement. And while Ms Bhutto declared that 'I don't believe the state or the government was involved', she also believed that 'the sympa- thisers of the militants had managed to infiltrate some of our agencies and some of our administrative apparatus ... and that they abused their positions to give covert support to the militants'. Several Islamist groups, including Taleban and al-Qaeda affiliates, had vowed to attack Ms Bhutto on her return, as she had promised to confront those forces operating in the northern tribal regions. The militants and her other detractors would have been further angered by the deal she seemed to have made with General Musharraf to enable her return - corruption charges being dropped in exchange for temporary political co-operation and power sharing. American and British pressure to make that deal, widely reported in the Pakistani press, was another irritation. These same militants had in previous weeks been increasing their military pressure: clashes in the North Waziristan tribal region resulted in the death of at least 50 Pakistani soldiers and 150 militants. The situation in North and South Waziristan is steadily worsening, and bringing increasing pressure on General Musharraf's regime. Since 2003, some 1,000 Pakistani security personnel have been killed there. Pakistan seems powerless to stop regular movement of militants across the Pakistan-Afghan border from these areas, although it has some 100,000 troops deployed in the area. Pakistani militants are now attacking western troops in Afghanistan; the Taleban is helping to develop an ever-more potent counterpart in Pakistan. This increased security instability comes hand-in-hand with political turmoil. General Musharraf seemingly won the presidential election on October 5, receiving 57 per cent of the vote. But that 'victory' is precarious - a metaphor for his entire rule. The election was boycotted by a number of opposition elements who questioned its legitimacy, and the country's Supreme Court has been deliberating over the same issue. It is formally examining the legality of the general's standing for president while he remained army chief. It allowed the election to go ahead, but has declared that a winner cannot be declared before it rules on the matter. The current parliamentary term ends on November 15, and a general election must be called by mid- January. Further political violence seems inevitable then, if not before. General Musharraf is under unprecedented scrutiny and pressure, his hold on power more uncertain than at any time since he seized control in the 1999 coup. Meanwhile, Ms Bhutto will be campaigning under the all-too-real threat of assassination. An increasingly concerned world watches on from the sidelines. Hagai Segal, a terrorism and Middle-East specialist, lectures at New York University in London