Gunmen kill 10 foreign tourists in Pakistan

[Vikrant]

ISLAMABAD: Gunmen stormed a hotel in a remote part of northern Pakistan on Sunday and killed 10 foreign tourists, police and security officials said.

"Unknown people entered a hotel last night where foreign tourists were staying and opened fire," Ali Sher, a senior police officer in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan province, told Reuters. "They killed 10 foreign tourists and fled."

Sher said police have not yet established the nationalities of the victims but he had received reports that several were Chinese.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The gunmen fled after the attack, which took place in a remote mountain area at about 1am on Sunday, Sher said.

A senior government official said a large number of security personnel had been sent to the area.

"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," the official said.

Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China and Kashmir, had been considered one of the more secure areas of Pakistan but has witnessed a spate of attacks by militants targeting members of Pakistan's Shi'ite minority in recent years.

It is the first time foreign tourists had been attacked in the province, which is famous for its natural beauty.

Gunmen kill 10 foreign tourists in Pakistan: Police - The Times of India

 

[Gracie]

Who the hell would go touring over there at this time? Jeez.

 

[Vikrant]

^

Sher said police have not yet established the nationalities of the victims but he had received reports that several were Chinese.

 

[R.C. Christian]

That blows.

But one has to wonder why someone would go on a holiday to Pakistan in the first place.

 

[Vikrant]

^ China and Pakistan have active military co-operation. These people were not tourists. They were some sort of advisers to Pakistani military. China has several questionable ongoing projects in that subset of Kashmir called Gilgit - Baltisatan. Also lots of mountaineers frequent that area.

 

[R.C. Christian]

Very good point sir.

 

[RoadVirus]

That blows.

But one has to wonder why someone would go on a holiday to Pakistan in the first place.

Agreed. Who the hell would want to vacation in Pakistan? That's like taking a vacation in Mexico. Was Disneyland closed?

 

[novasteve]

I see more victim blaming here. Why not ask why women go outside at night? Maybe we can solve this by insisting on more one way tolerance?

 

[Vikrant]

That blows.

But one has to wonder why someone would go on a holiday to Pakistan in the first place.

Agreed. Who the hell would want to vacation in Pakistan? That's like taking a vacation in Mexico. Was Disneyland closed?

Some of the best hotels in the world are located in Mexico. Just an FYI.

 

[Vikrant]

Pakistanis Kill 10 Tourists, Including American


At least a dozen Islamic militants wearing police uniforms shot to death overnight a Pakistani and 10 foreign tourists, including an American, who were visiting one of the world's highest mountains in a remote area of northern Pakistan that has been largely peaceful, officials said Sunday.

The shooting was one of the worst attacks on foreigners in Pakistan in recent years and is likely to damage the country's already struggling tourism industry. Pakistan's mountainous north — considered until now relatively safe — is one of the main attractions in a country beset with insurgency and other political instability.

The local branch of the Taliban took responsibility for the killings, saying it was to avenge the death of a leader killed in a recent U.S. drone strike.

The 10 foreigners who were killed included two Chinese, one Chinese-American and one Nepalese, said Attaur Rehman, home secretary in the Gilgit-Baltistan area where the attack took place. The other six have not been identified. One Pakistani was also killed, Rehman said.

Matt Boland, the acting spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, confirmed that a U.S. citizen was among the dead, but could not say whether it was a dual Chinese national.

"The U.S. Embassy Islamabad expresses its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the U.S. citizen and the other innocent tourists who were killed in the Northern Areas of Pakistan," Boland said in a statement sent to reporters.

Pakistan's interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said earlier that nine foreigners and one Pakistani were killed. He said the dead included five Ukrainians, three Chinese and one Russian. One Chinese tourist was wounded in the attack and was rescued, said Khan.

It's unclear what caused the discrepancy between the two accounts.

The attack took place at the base camp of Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world at 8,126 meters (26,660 feet). Nanga Parbat is notoriously difficult to climb and is known as the "killer mountain" because of numerous mountaineering deaths in the past. It's unclear if the tourists were planning to climb the mountain or were just visiting the base camp, which is located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.

The gunmen were wearing uniforms used by the Gilgit Scouts, a paramilitary police force that patrols the area, said the interior minister. The attackers abducted two local guides to find their way to the remote base camp. One of the guides was killed in the shooting, and the other has been detained and is being questioned, said Khan.

"The purpose of this attack was to give a message to the world that Pakistan is unsafe for travel," said the interior minister in a speech in the National Assembly, which passed a resolution condemning the incident. "The government will take all measures to ensure the safety of foreign tourists."

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying their Jundul Hafsa group carried out the shooting as retaliation for the death of the Taliban's deputy leader, Waliur Rehman, in a U.S. drone attack on May 29.

"By killing foreigners, we wanted to give a message to the world to play their role in bringing an end to the drone attacks," Ahsan told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.

At least a dozen gunmen were involved in the attack, local police officer Jahangir Khan said.

Pakistanis Kill 10 Tourists, Including American - ABC News

 

[Osomir]

As to the identity of the tourists I cannot say, but tourists are routinely a target of rebel and terrorist groups. It is one thing that can really hurt a country's image both domestically and internationally and economy at the same time. It was a major tactic that Jamaat al Jihad and Gamaal al Islamiyya utilized in Egypt. Granted Egypt depended a lot more on tourism than Pakistan does today. The main tactic thus in Pakistan is capturing and holding foreigners for ransom, so simply killing them seems a bit of a deviation from the normal tactics utilized.

 

[Surfer]

Unknown??? The Taliban has already claimed responsibility for this massacre of an American, 2 Chinese, 1 Nepalese, 1 Pakistani and 6 Ukranians.
Call it what it is: another Muslim terrorist attack on innocent people. And the Muslims are blaming the USA for it saying we killed one of their leaders in a drone strike. What a crock of crap.
ANY excuse for these savages to maim, kill, torture and act like Barbarians.

 

[SteadyMercury]

Agreed. Who the hell would want to vacation in Pakistan? That's like taking a vacation in Mexico. Was Disneyland closed?

I've never been to Pakistan but I'd guess it is nothing like taking a vacation in Mexico. Every year thousands of Americans travel to Mexico to sit on the beach, eat fresh shrimp, and drink a ton of beer.

So far the only one who's attacked me in Mexico was a stingray. Damn did that hurt.