All the dead and the injured were local people in Pakpattan, around 135 miles from the Punjab provincial capital Lahore.

The victims were attending Monday morning prayers at the Sufi shrine of the 13th-century saint Hazrat Baba Farid Ganj Shakar.

Witnesses said two men, aged 20-30, parked a motorcycle fitted with large milk churns outside the gate of the shrine and left on foot. Minutes later a powerful blast ripped through the main entrance area and damaged several nearby shops.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the blast, saying the bombers wouldn't demoralize the Pakistani people.

Police said they believe the device was in the milk churns and detonated by remote control.

Millions of dollars have been spent, beginning with the government of Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan in the early 1990s, to rebuild and restore the shrine, including its magnificent marbled and colonnaded entrance area.

Followers believe by crossing the gate, all of the person's sins are pardoned and he or she becomes clean again. Police said much of the marble of the gate was unscathed in the blast.

It is the latest attack on a Sufi shrine or holy place of the mystical Islamic sect Sufi, whose adherents are sometimes called dervishes and noted for their whirling in circles in a trance-like state. Sufi's often are viewed with suspicion by other Islamic groups.

Mufti Muneebur Rehman, a Sufi scholar, said the federal and provincial governments aren't protecting the Sufi community and leaving it open to attack most often Islamic extremist groups.

"Our rulers are too busy serving foreign masters and have not prioritized protecting the people and sacred places from terrorists," Rehman said.

The London-based Association of Pakistani Lawyers condemned the blast and said Baba Farid is an international symbol of love and represents the peaceful teachings of Islam.

"Many millions, irrespective of their color and creed and sectarian affiliation, attend the shrine and pay homage at some point of their lives," APL Chairman Amjad Malik said. "Attacks on such shrines (represent) a conspiracy against humanity and these culprits cannot be Muslims by any means and the APL condemns such acts in the strongest terms."

Earlier this month, at least nine people, including two children, were killed and more than 65 injured by a suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine in Karachi.

The blast hit the entrance to the shrine of eighth-century saint Abdullah Shah Ghazi as people were leaving evening prayers and gathering to distribute food to the poor.

The Sufi community in Karachi declared three days of mourning with shrines closed.

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