Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in her native Pakistan today, just weeks after returning from exile to challenge the authority of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. She was 54.

Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state, first taking office in 1988. Over the course of her political career, she was twice removed from government for both alleged corruption and her vocal opposition to Pakistan’s ruling elites - including current President Musharraf.

The leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, Bhutto narrowly escaped an Oct. 18 suicide bombing that left 136 people dead and an estimated 450 injured.

Bhutto died at 6:16 p.m. local time today at a hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan following a shooting and suicide bombing during a political rally that left at least 20 others dead, according to CNN.

The former prime minister, who recently announced her candidacy in the parliamentary elections of 2008, often spoke without reservation of the constant threat against her life. In a column posted on The Huffington Post, Bhutto wrote: “I didn’t choose this life. It chose me.”

“Mrs. Bhutto served her nation twice as prime minister and she knew that her return to Pakistan earlier this year put her life at risk,” said President Bush, “yet she refused to allow assassins to dictate the course of her country.” The assassination will almost certainly impact the already strained relations between the United States and Pakistan. A rare, Middle Eastern ally of the United States’ war on terror, Pakistan’s government is viewed by many as the most unstable regime in the region - a situation further complicated by the state’s considerable nuclear arsenal.

In a statement released today, Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) remarked that Bhutto’s slaying represents “terrible news for those who support a stabilized democracy in Pakistan, both in that country and around the world.”