Pakistan suspends expeditions after tourist massacre
Islamabad , June 24 : Pakistan suspended expeditions on its second-highest peak, evacuating climbers from Nanga Parbat after 10 foreign tourists were shot dead by Islamist gunmen at a base camp.
Well-armed and well-prepared attackers dressed in police uniforms stormed the camp at the foot of Nanga Parbat late Saturday, shooting dead the climbers and a Pakistani guide at point-blank range, officials said.
The victims have been identified as an American with dual Chinese citizenship, three Ukrainians, two Slovakians, two others from China, a Lithuanian and a climber from Nepal.
It was an unprecedented attack on mountaineers drawn to the natural beauty and intrepid climbing of northern Pakistan, which until Saturday’s shooting was considered immune from Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence plaguing other parts of the country.
“We are really shocked, traumatised and full of anger. Pakistan is known among the mountaineering community. It was a brutal massacre. These people were killed for no reason,” said Manzoor Hussain, President of the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
Around 40 remaining climbers on Nanga Parbat have been evacuated to the northern city of Gilgit with treks on the peak now unsafe.
It is a major blow to foreign trekking expeditions, which provide the last vestige of international tourism in a country where Islamist militants have killed thousands of people in recent years.
Pakistan’s umbrella Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the shootings, saying they had set up a new faction, Junood ul-Hifsa, to kill foreigners to avenge US drone strikes on Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives.
Expeditions on other peaks in Pakistan higher than 8,000 metres, including K2 the world’s second highest mountain, would continue as the army was in those areas, he said.
The bodies of the dead tourists were on Sunday flown to Islamabad from where they will be repatriated.Police said Monday that a massive search operation is under way to track down the suspects. – AFP
