KARACHI, Dec 26: At least five persons were wounded in a blast next to a mosque in Sohrab Goth on Wednesday.

Police said the incident took place outside Gul Agha mosque in Jannat Gul Town, behind Al-Asif Square, where an improvised explosive device attached to a motorcycle went off.

The wounded were taken to the nearby Patel Hospital in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, where they were stated to be stable.

The outer wall of the mosque collapsed under the impact of the blast as the motorcycle had been parked along it, the police said.

They found no evidence that bearing balls were used in the IED.

Intense firing following the blast added to panic, the police said. The tension spread in areas adjoining the scene of the blast and shops and markets were immediately closed. The Superhighway was also closed to traffic as protesters had erected barricades on the highway.

The city has been rocked by several low-intensity blasts in recent days in which no serious casualties were reported. Three similar blasts took place in the city on Monday.