QUETTA, Pakistan — A Pakistani railway official says a bomb has derailed a train in southwest Pakistan, wounding at least eight people.
The official Suhail Ahmed says the attack took place Thursday as the train was en route from the garrison city of Rawalpindi to Quetta, the capital of impoverished Baluchistan province.
He says the explosion heavily damaged the train tracks, derailing several cars near the town of Dasht, 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Quetta.
Shortly after the attack, the separatist United Baluch Liberation Army claimed responsibility — saying it was in retaliation for the recent abduction of their activists by government security forces.
Baluchistan has long been the center of a low-level insurgency by nationalist groups that demand more autonomy and a greater share in the region’s natural resources.