KARACHI (AFP) - A Pakistani woman died on Thursday after being hit by stray bullets fired by supporters celebrating the appointment of new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the police said.

Around 100 activists from the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) took to the streets of Thul, a remote town in the southern province of Sindh, firing weapons in the air to celebrate Mr Sharif taking office for an unprecedented third term.

Some of the bullets hit and killed 45-year-old Ms Musammat Bibal, while her 19-year niece Jamila Bibi was rushed to hospital in critical condition, the police said.

"They were firing in jubilation and the bullets hit one woman in the head and she died on the spot," Thul police officer Bahar Uddin told Agence France-Presse by phone.

Mr Sharif was sworn in as PM on Wednesday, some 13 years after he was deposed in a coup and exiled, following the PML-N's comfortable victory in the May 11 General Election.