The burials took place a day after commandos killed the last few gunmen hiding in the ruins of the mosque complex, which President Pervez Musharraf ordered attacked after a week-long siege in the heart of the capital.
The army operation sparked protests in the north-western mountain town of Allai where angry mobs set fire to five offices of the UN and other aid agencies, according to local mayor Ehsanullah. No one was injured.
Cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed on Tuesday along with a handful of hardcore militants he had gathered around him in his drive to impose strict Islamic rule on the capital.
His elder brother Abdul Aziz, caught fleeing disguised as a woman in the early stages of the siege, led the prayers before Ghazi’s body was buried at their ancestral village in the eastern province of Punjab.
Take revenge: Qaeda
Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri, in an Internet video, called for revenge, stoking fears of a violent backlash from militants exporting the Taliban’s hardline version of Islam from the tribal badlands to Pakistani cities.
“If you do not retaliate... Musharraf will not spare you,” said Zawahri, believed to be hiding on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where US intelligence officials warned lawmakers in Washington overnight that al Qaeda had regrouped.
Pakistan vows to wipe out terror
Islamabad, pti: Hours after al-Qaeda threatened to wreak vengeance for military operation in Lal Masjid, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday vowed to eliminate extremism and terrorism from the country.
In an address to the nation, he asserted that in future no mosque or madrasa would be allowed to be “misused” like Lal Masjid.
“Extremism and terrorism has still not been eliminated from Pakistan. But we are determined to eliminate it,” Mr Musharraf said appealing to people to “rise” and extend a helping hand to the government in this endeavour.
He sought the support of the nation to change the mindset of “misguided elements” who tried to misuse the mosques and madrasas. He said the crackdown on Lal Masjid may not eliminate extremism and terrorism from the society but displayed his government’s resolve and unwavering commitment to defeat “the menace in every province and corner of the country”.