At least nine Pakistanis were killed on Friday after gunmen opened fire on worshippers leaving a mosque after Eid al-Fitr prayers in the southwestern city of Quetta.

At least nine Pakistanis were killed on Friday after gunmen opened fire on worshippers leaving a mosque after Eid al-Fitr prayers in the southwestern city of Quetta.

The attack came a day after a suicide bomber killed 38 people at a police funeral in the same city.

"Four people opened fire when people were coming out of the mosque after saying Eid prayers, killing nine people and wounding 10 others," senior local police official, Bashir Ahmad Brohi, told AFP.

He said four people died at the scene while five others succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Brohi said Ali Madad Jatak, a former provincial minister with the Pakistan Peoples Party which headed the last national coalition government, was also in the mosque and may been the target.

"But we are not sure at the moment and are investigating, " he said, adding that Jatak escaped unhurt although bullets hit his car.

Another local police official, Sultan Ahmad, confirmed the incident and casualties outside the mosque, which is also a preaching and research center.

The shooting was a bloody start to the Eid festival as it marred in Pakistan this year by at least 11 attacks which killed more than 120 people.