At least eight people have been killed in an explosion outside a major Sufi Muslim shrine in the Pakistani city of Lahore, officials say.
The blast occurred near the Data Darbar shrine in Lahore. Photo: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Five police officers are reportedly among the dead. A police van was the prime target, authorities said.
The blast occurred near the Data Darbar Sufi shrine, one of the oldest Muslim shrines in South Asia, just a few days into the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
A security operation is under way in the area with heavy police presence at the blast site.
Police have described the explosion as a suicide attack, Pakistan's APP news agency reports.
No group has said it carried out the attack.
The shrine - located inside the walled city of Lahore, Pakistan's second-biggest city - is visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year from both Sunni and Shia traditions of Islam.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has strongly denounced the attack in a tweet.
"Strongly condemn the terror blast outside Data Darbar this morning. Have asked Punjab govt to provide all assistance to the injured & families of victims," he wrote.
Sufism is a form of Islamic mysticism existing across the Islamic world and includes both Sunnis and Shias. Its followers in Pakistan have been attacked by militants in the past.
In 2010, dozens died in two suicide blasts at the Data Darbar shrine.
Pakistan has launched a renewed crackdown on extremism in recent years, but while security has improved the country still grapples with militant groups.
In 2016, at least 72 people were killed in Lahore in a bombing targeting Christians on Easter Sunday.
- BBC
