RAWALPINDI: Two military officers were among five people killed Wednesday when a Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber hit their twin cabin vehicle on Fateh Jang road near Rawalpindi, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Asim Bajwa said.
Zahir Shah and Arshad, both Lieutenant-Colonels were killed in the blast, Bajwa said on micro-blogging website Twitter.
Three civilians also died in the attack.
The attack was carried out when the officers were on their way to a military installation near Fateh Jang at 9: 20 am, military sources told Dawn.
Initial reports said the blast was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Military helicopters were called in at the spot soon after the attack to move the dead and injured to a hospital.
Meanwhile, other helicopters were called in to carry out a search operation in the area.
The area had been cordoned off by security forces personnel and evidence was being collected from the location.
A spokesman for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the suicide bombing near Fateh Jang was carried out by TTP attackers to protest "the killing of seven TTP activists in Karachi" and "the killing of Taliban prisoners in jail".
The bombing which comes in the wake of military action and airstrikes in the North Waziristan tribal region.
The attack is also likely to cast another blow to the currently hampered peace process with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The two parties had even managed to agree on a ceasefire which lasted for 40 days but wasn’t renewed in the wake of bomb blasts in parts of the country.