 At least 11 people were killed, six of them burned alive, and 14 were injured during sectarian clashes in Gilgit on Saturday where a curfew was imposed and troops were deployed to restore order, officials said. The clashes took place after unidentified people shot at the vehicle Agha Ziauddin, Shia community leader and imam of the main Gilgit mosque, was travelling in. Two of his bodyguards and one of the assailants were killed instantly. Mr Ziauddin was also shot and was in serious condition. He was taken to the Gilgit District Headquarters Hospital, from where the administration planned to take him to Islamabad. Shias set fire to several government and private buildings and torched the home of Forest Officer Taighun Nabi, burning him and five people present in his house to death. In another attack, local Health Department chief Dr Sher Wali was shot by the infuriated mob. A male passer-by was also hit and died. The injured included the Northern Areas home secretary's assistant, Akhtar Khattak, and Gilgit Municipal Committee member Syedul Hasnain. The administration announced an indefinite curfew at 1.10pm and the Pakistan Army was called in to restore order. Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said on Saturday that the attack on Mr Ziauddin was "a terrorist act". He said the ministry had decided to deploy the FC in Gilgit. |