RAWALPINDI: A suicide bomber killed 14 people and injured 34 others close to the army headquarters on Monday morning, a day after another terrorist attack claimed the lives of 20 soldiers.

Such attacks are taking place despite the government`s efforts to hold talks with the Taliban.

Seven army personnel, twocivilian employees of the General Headquarters, three students and a shopkeeper were among those killed.

According to Rawalpindi police chief Akhtar Umar Hayat Laleka, the bomber blew himself up when groups of army personnel were walking to their offices. He said there were 15 army employees among the injured.

He said the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility and threatened to continue such attacks.

`The suicide bomber`s target was army personnel and military installations,` Mr Laleka said.

He said an Afghan national, Zair Khan, who was among the injured had been taken into custody onsuspicion.

Police sources said that Zair Khan`s two brothers and two cousins who had gone to see him in the hospital were also taken into custody for questioning.

The blast took place not far from a heavily guarded military checkpoint at about 7.40 am. A cyclist going towards the post took a turn towards the RA Bazaar link road on seeing heavy presence of security personnel there.

Moments later, he left his bicycle behind and blew himself up.`Some armymen made an attempt to catch the bomber when he ran away and within moments he blew up himself,` they said, adding that the attacker was also carrying a hand-grenade whose pieces had been found at the place.

Besides human limbs, parts of a head believed to be of the bomber were found on roofs of adjoining houses and taken to the District Headquarters Hospital`s mortuary.

`The suicide bomber`s leg and shoes were found at the scene along with some other evidence, but his head was smashed,` the city police officer said. `The make of the grenade is yet to be ascertained,` he said.

`I saw body parts scattered when I came out of my shop on hearing the deafening sound of the blast, Mohammad Khalid, who had suffered minor injuries, told Dawn in the hospital.

Asif Mushtaq was sobbing outside the mortuary where he was waiting to receive the body of his younger brother Mubashir, 19, a diploma student of a private college. He was in his house when he heard the blast soon after his brother had left for his college.

`My little sister asked my mother to call Mubashir on his cellphone to inquire about him. When I called him, his phone was not responding.

Within moments I received acall from the Rescue 1122 service that my brother was badly injured in the attack.

When he reached the hospital he came to know that his brother was dead.

Mohammad Zubair, a first year student, who was going to college on a motorbike died in the explosion, a relative said.

The GHQ, officers of the Military Intelligence agency and National Logistics Cell and other army installations are close to the place where the attack took place but werenot affected. But several nearby shops and houses were damaged.

The blast was heard miles away and triggered panic in the city. Security personnel cordoned off the area and even police and rescue workers were not allowed to go near the place.

According to bomb disposal experts, about six pounds of high intensity explosives with ball-bearings and iron pellets were used in the suicide jacket.

Although security personnelhad been posted there mainly to provide protection to former army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf who has been admitted to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, army presence around defence installations in RA Bazaar had been increased because of terror threats in recent days.

It was the sixth suicide bomb attack in the area since 2007. Attacks on security forces increased since the Lal Masjid operation in 2007.

In 2009, a group of militantsstormed the military complex and laid a siege for several hours.

According to AFP, a TTP spokesman claimed Monday`s attack as payback for the deadly military raid carried out in 2007 on the radical mosque in Islamabad.

While claiming Sunday`s Bannu attack, the militant group had said it wanted to avenge the deaths in US drone strikes of its leaders Hakeemullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman.