Nine people including two police officials were killed while 35 others injured in a suicide attack in east Pakistan, local newspaper The Nation reported Thursday.

Pakistani security personnel gather at the site of a suicide attack in Lahore, August 13, 2008. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police station in Lahore on Wednesday during preparations for Pakistan's Independence Day, killing at least seven people, police said. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

A suicide bomber blew himself up at Moon Market in front of Iqbal Town police station in Lahore, capital city of Punjab province late Wednesday night, said the report.

The bomber came on foot and targeted the policemen deployed at the Moon Market, one of the busiest markets in the city.

Police said as many as 20 policemen were deployed at the Moon Market for security purpose on the eve of Independence Day.

A high alert has been declared in Lahore and more police contingent was called to maintain law and order.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2008)