Tourists Killing: CM Gilgit Baltistan says significant progress expected

GILGIT: The Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan said Tuesday that the escape route used by the attackers who killed ten foreign tourists at the Nanga Parbat base camp has been discovered.

Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah said through the help of sniffer dogs it was discovered that the attackers fled through the Buner nullah (sewer). Shah added that 37 suspects detained after the gruesome attack were being interrogated and significant progress was expected in the next two days.

However, the claims of Chief Minister Shah differed from the province’s Home Secretary Attaullah Rehman. The home secretary said that there was no operation underway in Diamer and only a search was being conducted for the attackers. Rehman added that the investigation was ongoing but nothing could be said at the moment about the results.

Attackers dressed in police uniforms stormed a base camp at the foot of Nanga Parbat late Saturday, shooting dead ten foreign climbers and a Pakistani guide at point-blank range.

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.

Pakistan's umbrella Taliban movement claimed responsibility, saying it had set up a new faction, Junood ul-Hifsa, to kill foreigners to avenge US drone strikes on Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives.