LAHORE, PAKISTAN: A blast killed 10 people outside a public park in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, the capital of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's political heartland of Punjab, rescue officials said.

Police said the nature of the blast was not clear.

"At least 10 people have been killed in a blast outside Gulshan Iqbal Park," Jam Sajjad Hussain, spokesman for Recuse 112 told Reuters, adding that more than 30 people were injured and had been taken to various hospitals in the city.

Most of the injured are women and children, Hussain said.

Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people, is plagued by a Taliban insurgency, criminal gangs and sectarian violence. Punjab is its biggest and wealthiest province.