At least three people died and 21 were injured on Wednesday after a blast near the residence of banned Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed in Lahore, officials said.

The explosion took place in a residential area near Allah Hu boulevard of Johar town, police said. Television footage showed visible damage to nearby houses whose walls had cracked and window panes shattered.

A statement from Lahore police chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said three people had been killed. It added that 13 injured were being treated at Jinnah Hospital while eight others had been discharged.

Punjab province Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani visited the site of the explosion and confirmed to reporters that the blast took place close to proscribed JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’s house. He said police were guarding Saeed's house at the time of the attack, resulting in serious injuries to some officials.

A Dawn correspondent who was present at the scene after the blast said the windows and walls of Saeed's house had been damaged from the impact.

Ghani said officials were currently assessing the damage, adding that nothing could compensate for the lives lost. He assured citizens that the perpetrators would be held responsible.

"The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has taken over [the investigation]. The CTD will determine whether it was a suicide blast or if a device was used," he said.

He urged citizens and the media to not "speculate", adding that officials receive hundreds of threat alerts every year.

"Even right now we have about 65 threat alerts," he said, adding that there was an "external element" involved in most terrorist attacks.

"These attacks are usually carried out by countries that want to harm Pakistan and its progress," he said. We have peace in our country because of our intelligence agencies, he added.

A police officer said while it was not immediately clear what had caused the blast, it had left behind a crater.

"We will only be able to determine the cause after carrying out an investigation," he said, adding the area was being cordoned off.

Later, speaking  to Geo News, the city police chief said it was too early to say whether the blast was targeting someone.

(SAM)