Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Pakistanis on trial in massacre of 10 foreign climbers escape jail

Published 02/27/2015, 05:38 AM
Updated 02/27/2015, 05:40 AM
Pakistanis on trial in massacre of 10 foreign climbers escape jail

Pakistanis on trial in massacre of 10 foreign climbers escape jail

By Syed Raza Hassan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Two Pakistani militant suspects facing trial for the massacre of 10 foreign climbers two years ago escaped from jail on Friday, an official said.

The 2013 killing of the climbers and their local guide in a pre-dawn attack on their base camp on Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world, dealt a severe blow to Pakistan's mountaineering tourism industry.

Two other prisoners were shot and killed in the jailbreak in northern Gilgit agency early on Friday morning, said Sultan Faisal, the prison's deputy inspector general.

The four had dug a tunnel from their barracks to the wall of the prison, another jail official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

The two who escaped were among about a dozen suspected Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militants jailed while on trial for the Nanga Parbat massacre, Faisal said, adding that two jail officials had been suspended pending an investigation.

Victims of the mountain assault included climbers from China, Lithuania, Nepal, Slovakia, Ukraine and one person with joint U.S.-Chinese citizenship. One Chinese climber escaped.

The Pakistani Taliban originally claimed responsibility for the slaughter by gunmen dressed as police officers, but most of those arrested allegedly belong to Lashkar-e-Jhangi, a separate militant movement of extremist Sunni Muslims loosely allied with the Taliban.

The once-peaceful areas of northern Pakistan where the Himalayan, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges meet have been increasingly infiltrated by militants seeking to gain footholds beyond their traditional hideouts on Pakistan's porous border with Afghanistan.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.