A bomb exploded at a crowded bathing point yesterday in Varanasi, one of India’s holiest Hindu cities and a major tourist destination, killing a young girl and wounding dozens of people.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the blast was the work of “terrorists”, while a home-grown Muslim militant group, Indian Mujahedeen, claimed responsibility in an e-mail sent to various media outlets.

The explosion at around 6.30 p.m. (1300 GMT) targeted one of the city’s many ritual bathing ghats on the banks of the holy Ganges river, which was thronged with hundreds of Hindu devotees.

Police described the blast as one of “medium intensity”.

Senior police officer Brij Lal told reporters in the state capital Lucknow that a two-year-old girl had been killed, and that several foreigners were among those wounded.

Prime Minister Singh led condemnation of the attack.

“It was an attempt to weaken our resolve to fight the evil forces of terrorism, and the terrorists will not succeed,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

The Home Ministry said other major Indian cities, including Mumbai and New Delhi, had been put on high alert.

The blast triggered a stampede in which dozens more were injured.