RAWALPINDI / FATEH JANG: Two army officers and three civilians were killed when a suicide bomber hit a vehicle carrying security personnel on Wednesday morning.

The attack took place at a railway crossing at the junction of Fateh Jang and Rawalpindi when the vehicle with two officers, a gunman and a driver had slowed down.

The bomber appeared from bushes along the road and blew himself up.

The officers, the guard, the driver and a rickshaw driver were killed.

A spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that Colonel Mohammad Zahir and Colonel Arshad Hussain and three civilians were killed when the bomber hit the vehicle at about 9.20am.

The deceased rickshaw driver was identified as Noor Saleem.

Six people were injured in the blast. They have been identified as Mohammad Shabbir,

Mohammad Haleem, Gul Saleem, Mohammad Khan, Akbar Ali and Najeeb.

Immediately after the attack, security officials cordoned off the area and took the injured and the bodies to hospitals.

Mohammad Shabbir and Mohammad Haleem were shifted to the District Hospital, Rawalpindi, because their condition was serious.

According to security sources, head and a leg believed to be of the suicide bomber were found from the scene. He looked like an Uzbek citizen.

When contacted, Regional Police Officer Akhtar Umar Hayat Laleka said two of the injured were in a critical condition.

He said according to preliminary investigation high-intensity explosives weighing about 2kg were used in the attack.

He said funeral prayers of the two army officers were offered at Chaklala Garrison in the afternoon.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif, the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Rashad Mehmood, personnel from three services and people from all walks of life attended the funeral.

Later, the bodies of the army officers were sent to their ancestral towns where they will be buried with full military honour.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2014