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Banned militant outfit United Baloch Army (UBA) has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blast at a passenger train in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province that killed 16 people and injured over 30 others, local media reported.
Express TV said that a UBA spokesperson termed the train blast as retaliation for army operation against militants in Kalat and Khuzdar districts of the province that killed 30 militants.
The spokesperson said that his group would keep on attacking passenger trains and railway tracks in the future.
The blast, which happened at a railway station in Sibi district of Balochistan, was triggered off by a remote controlled device.
Khawaja Saad Rafique, the minister for Pakistan railways, said that the bomb exploded inside a compartment of the passenger train 10 minutes after it stopped at the railway station.
He said that investigations into the incident are underway, but added it seems that the blast was carried out by a woman, as women are not subject to security check at the station, which might have given chance to the woman terrorist to plant the bomb inside the train's compartment.
The minister said that there were over 80 people including women and kids in the compartment targeted by the militants.
Bomb disposal unit said that an estimated eight to ten kg of explosives were used in the blast.
The general manager of Pakistan Railways said that the train was carrying passengers to eastern Lahore city from Balochistan's capital of Quetta.
The injured people were shifted to Civil Hospital Sibi where doctors said that most of the victims suffered serious burn injuries as the targeted compartment caught fire following the explosion.
Some of the critically injured people have been airlifted to hospital in southern port city of Karachi.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the blast and directed hospital administration to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured people.
