Police arrest 18 over Nanga Parbat massacre

Published October 31, 2013
Nanga Parbat , the country’s second highest peak.—Photo by AP
Nanga Parbat , the country’s second highest peak.—Photo by AP

ISLAMABAD: Police in Gilgit-Baltistan said Thursday they have arrested 18 suspects over the killing of 10 foreign climbers in the Himalayas in June, but warned that others remain at large.

The June 22 attack was the deadliest assault on foreigners in Pakistan for a decade and was claimed by a purported new faction of Pakistan’s umbrella Taliban movement, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Police in the northern districts of Gilgit and Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region said they have arrested 18 suspects on suspicion of planning and carrying out the attack.

The officer leading the investigation said only four of those held are believed to have been directly involved in the killings at the foot of Pakistan’s second highest mountain Nanga Parbat.

“We have arrested four culprits who shot the tourists at Nanga Parbat base camp while seven are still at large,” Muhammad Naveed told AFP.

The victims of the attack, carried out by men in police uniforms, were identified as one American with dual Chinese citizenship, three Ukrainians, two other Chinese, two Slovakians, one Lithuanian and one Nepalese. A Pakistani guide was also killed.

New details emerge

Further details of the attack have emerged during interrogation. The suspects have revealed that their original plan was to kidnap the trekkers, an investigating officer said.

“They said their plan went foul when one of the Chinese resisted after they approached them,” he said.

“After the Chinese tourist retaliated, one of the terrorists fired a shot that killed him and the terrorists fought with each other over it. After that they sprayed bullets at all the tourists.”

Asked if the kidnap could have worked, the officer said it would have been almost impossible for them to escape with the hostages because of the difficult terrain.

A senior official of the local administration said extremists from Diamer district had linked up with the Pakistani Taliban and travelled to the tribal areas along the Afghan border for training.

A group of 35 including the 18 detainees was trained in North Waziristan.

“This group was launched as an extension of the Pakistani Taliban in the northern region,” the official told AFP, adding that the group had been behind a rise in killings targeting Shia Muslims in the north.

Naveed, the senior police officer, also confirmed that some of the suspects arrested in connection with the Nanga Parbat attack had links with the Pakistani Taliban.

After the attack the Taliban said it had set up a new faction, Junood ul-Hifsa, to kill foreigners to avenge US drone strikes on Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives in northwest Pakistan.

Until the June 22 attack, Gilgit-Baltistan was considered immune from much of the militancy plaguing other areas.

The killings badly hit the local tourism industry, a major economic prop.

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.