An interior ministry front man said the initial probe suggested that the UBA had nothing to do with the blast. "Accepting responsibility for the attack by this organization is not just surprising, but also ridiculous."
He said an investigation by intelligence and security agencies had indicated that the blast had roots somewhere else. "Those responsible for it will be chased after completion of the investigation," he said.
Analysts wondered what warranted the ministry to come up with the statement without waiting for completion of the investigation. They believed that a faction of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain might be responsible for the attack because there appeared to be a clear division among pro- and anti-talks groups of the Taliban.
The TTP condemned the blasts in the fruit and vegetable market in Islamabad and at Sibbi railway station and declared that such attacks were 'haram'. TTP front man Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement that attacks targeting innocent civilians were un-Islamic and illegal.
He said the oppressed people of Sindh and Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
were 'brethren' and termed state oppression against them a black chapter in the country's history. He said targeting civilians in retaliation was also oppression.
The TTP front man said the involvement of a hidden hand, which wanted to punish the people of Pakistain for their love for Islam, could not be ruled out. "After their failure to overcome myrmidon organizations, they resorted to such barbaric attacks to defame them," he remarked.
He claimed that the blasts had been carried out by 'secret powers' in different cities, including Lahore and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, in the past in the name of TTP.
He said implementation of a ceasefire declared by the TTP had been acknowledged by the media. "The sane people of Pakistain know who was behind these attacks at public places."
Saleem Shahid adds from Quetta: Mureed Baloch, a front man for the UBA, told newsmen in Quetta by telephone that his organization was behind the kaboom in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad fruit and vegetable market.
"Our organization has carried out the kaboom in fruit and vegetable market in the twin city in reaction to operations conducted by security forces in Kalat, Turbat, Panjgur, Mastung and other parts of Balochistan," he said.
The UBA also grabbed credit for the Jaffar Express kaboom in Sibbi on Tuesday that killed 17 people.