Regional police official Bashir Brohi said the Friday shooting seemed to have been aimed at former provincial minister Ali Mohammad Jattack as his vehicle went by, but the motive and perpetrators were unclear.

"The majority of the injured faithful were coming from the mosque," said Brohi. "It was an armed attack on the former minister ... it was not an attack on the mosque."

The attack is the latest instance of spiraling militant violence since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office two months ago, with a string of high-profile attacks in the last two weeks.

Sharif's government has not yet presented a security strategy, despite campaign promises to negotiate with militant groups. Security in the capital, Islamabad, was tightened in the run-up to Eid al-Fitr, which ends the Ramadan fasting month.

Quetta is a city, where several militant groups are active, including the Pakistani Taliban, who claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack that killed 30 people at a policeman's funeral on Thursday.

NTJ/BA