Five people were killed and seven injured in a bomb explosion in IHK, as the region prepared for second stage of voting in general elections, police said Wednesday. The attack occurred in southern Poonch district Tuesday evening near a pick-up truck carrying civilians and village defence committee (VDC) members, a police spokesman said. "Five people, including three VDC members, were killed in the explosion and seven others were seriously hurt," a police spokesman said. The committees were set up in the mid-1990s by the government to protect remote and inaccessible villages from rebel attacks. They have been working closely with Indian security forces in fighting rebels. In the past, the committee members, who are armed and funded by the government, have been killed in gun and grenade attacks by the militants. Violence linked to the long-running Muslim insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir has increased in the past month, with the disputed region participating in a general election boycotted by most separatist leaders. Last month, at least eight Indian soldiers and 17 militants were killed in a series of battles along the Line of Control separating Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Voting in Indian Kashmir has been staggered over five phases in order to provide adequate security. The sensitive Udhampur segment goes to the polls Thursday in the second of the five phases. The first phase of voting passed off peacefully last week.