By Awais Saleem

Islamabad, Oct 25 (IANS) At least six people, including three women, were killed and eight injured when a powerful blast ripped through a Sufi shrine in Pakistan's Punjab province Monday.

Eye witnesses said two motorcycle riders came at the eastern gate of the shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Baba Farid Ganj Shakkar in Pakpattan and threw a bomb in the crowd.

It was not immediately known whether the motorcycle riders were suicide bombers or not.

As many as 10 nearby shops were also damaged in the incident. An eye witness named Abdul Ghafoor said the damage could have been much more if the blast was caused inside the shrine premises, where almost 200 people had gathered for the morning prayers.

Police and rescue officials have reached the spot and the injured people are being shifted to hospitals. SHO Chaudhary Tanveer confirmed the blast and said that "any detail at this stage is premature because rescue operation is under way".

The district coordination officer said that "precautionary measures were taken after threats were received by militants last year".

A suicide blast at the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi almost two weeks ago had killed 10 people, while two blasts targeting the Data Darbar shrine in Lahore in July had killed more than 40 devotees.