GILGIT, Feb 10: After month long tensions and panic, normality returned to strife-torn Gilgit city, as large number of shops and business centres gradually opened after the administration lifted curfew a week ago.

However, the government offices and schools including the Karakuram International University are still closed due to fear and security problems following the violence of Jan 8 that left 17 people dead including a religious scholar Agha Ziauddin Rizvi, his three guards and 13 others.

The worst affected offices included the headquarters of the Northern Areas Public Works Department.