LAHORE: At least 10 people were killed Monday and 40 others wounded when twin bomb blasts ripped through a busy market in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but cultural hub Lahore has frequently been targeted by Taliban militants waging a two-and-a-half year insurgency that has killed more than 2,600 people in Pakistan.

"It was bomb attacks, near simultaneous, but it is not clear if it was a planted bomb or detonated in a vehicle," senior Lahore police official Mohammad Khalid told AFP.

Rana Sanaullah, provincial law minister of Punjab province, said early reports suggested both were remotely-detonated blasts "of high intensity".

"Ten people have been killed and more than 40 were injured. There are some women among the dead," he told AFP.

Another city police official, Shafiq Ahmad, confirmed two explosions, and said they set shops and buildings ablaze at the popular Moon Market.

"There were two blasts with an interval of about 30 seconds. One was in front of a bank and one was in front of a police station," he said.

The blasts were about 30 metres (yards) apart, Ahmad added.

Pakistan TV stations showed footage of buildings in flames as rescue workers rushed to the chaotic scene and firemen struggled to put out the blaze.

Vehicles and shops were badly damaged in the Moon Market area in the centre of the city of nearly eight million people.

Earlier Monday, 10 people were killed when a suicide bomber struck outside a court in the northwestern city Peshawar, which has borne the brunt of Taliban attacks avenging military offensives against them across the region.

Lahore has also been in the crosshairs of the insurgents, with five militant strikes this year killing more than 70 people in a city known for its universities, buzzing theatre scene and art galleries.

It is the capital of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, with many of the nation's senior military figures hailing from the area.

In March, masked gunmen opened fire on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in central Lahore, killing eight people and wounding six players.

Similar commando-style assaults hit three police centres on October 15. Twenty-eight people died after gunmen attacked with suicide vests and grenades.

Insurgent attacks have intensified this year as the military pursues offensives against Taliban strongholds across the northwest.

October and early November saw a fierce surge in attacks, including a huge suicide car bombing on October 28 that ripped through a Peshawar market killing 125 people in the worst attack in Pakistan in two years.

There had been a lull in attacks in recent weeks, then on Friday four suicide bombers stormed a mosque in Islamabad's twin city Rawalpindi, killing 36 people in an onslaught of gunfire, grenades and explosions.