GILGIT, Pakistan (AFP) - Relatives began burying 14 people killed in religious riots in the northern Pakistani town of Gilgit as a curfew continued, witnesses and officials said.

AFP Photo

Violence erupted on Saturday after gunmen tried to assassinate a popular Shiite Muslim religious leader, with his supporters going on a brutal rampage that left a family of six burnt to death in their home.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf expressed his deep sorrow over the incident and hit out at the "extremist elements" responsible.

"We shall not allow the extremists to take the society hostage," Musharraf said in an address at the National Defence College in Islamabad, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

"The vast majority in Pakistan are peace-loving and moderate people, who need to stand up and play their rightful role to neutralize the extremist elements who are in minority," Musharraf said.

Authorities have not relaxed a shoot-on-sight curfew imposed on Saturday to curb the unrest in the scenic but troubled town, which is the gateway to the peaks of the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges.

A local resident said four victims of the violence were buried in Gilgit city graveyard on Monday.

Doctors at Gilgit's state-run hospital said they had handed over 10 bodies to relatives while four unidentified corpses were still in the mortuary. "They are badly charred and cannot be identified," a doctor told AFP.

An official told AFP that a high-level investigation team had been formed to probe the incident but added that no arrests had been made so far.

The wounded Shiite leader, Agha Ziauddin, was flown to the capital Islamabad on Sunday for medical treatment. Two of his bodyguards were killed in the attack.

Crowds loyal to him went on a shooting and burning spree across the town in response, blasting to death the the local health department chief, among others.

Local residents claimed the curfew imposed after the riots had left them short of food. "Children are suffering because there is no milk in the house," local resident Shahbaz Khan told AFP.

Grocery shops were secretly selling essential items like wheat flour, rice, bread, milk and other items at exorbitant prices, Khan said.

Gilgit has a history of sectarian violence but Saturday's disturbances were the worst since June last year, when several people were killed.

Pakistan has been plagued by tensions linked to extremist groups from the majority Sunni and minority Shiite communities, resulting in the deaths of more than 4,000 people during the last decade.

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