Blast kills five in Pakistan's Baluchistan

(Adds claim of responsibility)

QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A car-bomb killed five people and wounded 16 on Saturday 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.

They frequently attack gas pipelines, electricity infrastructure and transport links in the province of deserts and barren mountains bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

They also attack security forces but have no links with Islamist insurgents also fighting government forces, especially along the Afghan border in the northwest.

An intelligence official said the bomb was detonated by remote-control as the son of a pro-government tribal leader was passing. The man was not hurt. (Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony in ISLAMABAD)