Asia

Home page

Asia

Militants who attacked foreign mountaineers' camp in Pakistan identified

27 June 2013 03:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Senior Pakistani officials said Wednesday that militants who recently attacked a camp of foreign mountaineers in northern areas and killed 10 of them and their local guide have been identified, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Inspector General Police Gilgit-Baltistan, Usman Zikria, said that 15 to 16 militants were involved in the Sunday's attack at Nanga Parbat, local TV channels reported.

He said the attackers have now divided in groups and are still present in the mountains, hoping that the security forces will soon arrest them.

He said the militants belong to banned sectarian groups and are the residents of Diamir, Mansehra and Kohistan in northern parts of Pakistan, Geo TV reported.

The gunmen, wearing security forces' uniform, opened fire at tourists near their base camp of Nanga Parbat, a mountain in Pakistan's northern area that is popular among adventurous travelers. The attack killed 11 people, among whom 10 were foreigners.

Zikria said that the army and the intelligence agencies helped in collecting information about the attackers.

The Pakistani Taliban and Jundullah groups had claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on foreigners in the country' s peaceful region.

Meanwhile around 35 to 40 foreign tourists, who were evacuated from northern areas after the attack, would return homes from Pakistan within next couple of days.

Secretary Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Abu Zafar told the media on Wednesday said that the tourists are waiting for their luggage and after the arrival of belongings they will leave Pakistan.

He said the tourists are from Ukraine, Poland, Iran, Azerbaijan and China.

He said that killing of foreign climbers in a terror attack at Nanga Parbat base camp will have a negative impact on the tourism industry.

Zafar said that during current season the ACP had received around 60 applications from tourists but this number will fall after the terrorist incident.

The secretary said the country received million of dollars through mountains tourism and one tourist provides employment to around 15 locals.

He also asked the government to put in place an effective security system for foreign tourists to prevent such attacks.