At least 30 people were killed in a bomb blast Sunday at a Shiite mosque in the eastern Pakistani province of Punjab, according to local TV reports.

The private Express TV quoted police sources as saying that the blast had left 30 to 35 people dead and another 150 injured in Chakwal, some 90 kms southeast of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

The bomber could not enter the mosque because of heavy security, police said. About 2,000 people were at the site at the time of the explosion. Some vehicles near the mosque were destroyed.

The suicide bomber blew himself up during an annual Majlis Aza being held at the Sarpak Mohalla Imambargah, a shiite mosque, in the vicinity of a city police station, according to initial information.

Relief operations have started, while the dead and the injured are being shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital. Ambulances have been sent from nearby cities like Jhelum and Rawalpindi.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has condemned the blast.

Police officials have arrived on the site of incident supervising the relief work. At least thirty persons died and hundreds were injured in a suicide bombing at the over crowded Imambargah here.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2009)