Five female teachers and two aid workers shot by Islamic gunmen New Year's Day were buried Wednesday in Pakistan.

The seven had worked at a community center that included a medical clinic that vaccinated children against polio. The group was on their way home from the center when their vehicle was attacked Tuesday.

Hundreds of villagers turned out for the funerals. Many local residents view the center, which also ran a girls' primary school, as saving the community's poor.

The attacks are being linked to recent murders of polio vaccination workers in the area. The Taliban and other militant groups have for years accused aid workers of using the vaccination program to sterilize Muslims.