A car-bomb killed five people and wounded 16 today in the gas-rich southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where rebels have for decades been fighting for autonomy, police said.
A previously unknown rebel group, the Baluchistan Republican Army, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the Quetta Press Club.
"There was a blast in a car which hit a van next to it causing the casualties," said police official Najam Tireen in Dera Bugti district where the blast took place.
A doctor at the district's hospital said four bodies and 17 wounded people - many in critical condition - had been brought in. One of the wounded later died, police said.
Baluch rebels have waged a low-key insurgency for years for autonomy and a larger share of the profits from resources in Pakistan's biggest but poorest province.
