DERA GHAZI KHAN, Feb 5: Thirty people were killed and several others injured in a bomb attack on a procession of Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Husain in the Muslim Town area on Thursday.

The procession was about to end at about 6:35pm when it came under attack.

Soon after the blast, rescue teams and law-enforcement personnel reached the place and took the injured and bodies to the DHQ hospital.

A large number of people took out a procession in protest against the act of terrorism.

Shops and markets all over the town were closed.

Police said the blast targeted people converging on the Al-Hussainia mosque after dark shortly before a religious gathering, adds AFP.

“The death toll is now 30,” a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. “It is increasingly clear that it was a suicide attack.”

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, police were swift to blame sectarian extremists. “Ninety-nine per cent it looks like a suicide attack,” Shaukat Javed, the highest ranking police commander in Punjab province, said.

Shortly before the security official said 30 people had died, Mr Javed said 24 people were killed in the explosion.

“The blast occurred when a group of about 50 people were returning to the mosque after visiting a nearby place,” said Mr Javed.

“The explosion occurred just 50 feet short of the mosque. It is a terrorist attack aimed at a particular sect to create unrest,” he added.

District health official Dr Fazal Karim confirmed that 13 bodies were brought to the local hospital, including those of two children and a woman, but said he did not know how many dead might have been counted elsewhere.

Medics said six people with serious injuries were rushed for specialist treatment in Multan, about 100km west of Dera Ghazi Khan.

The powerful blast caused serious damage to the mosque and another nearby holy place in the town, local police official Mohammed Ahsan said. Rescue workers were seen trying to clear a crowd out of the way to let ambulances pass.