Police arrest 18 over Nanga Parbat tourists’ killing

Police in the northern districts of Gilgit and Diamer on Thursday said that they have arrested 18 perpetrators involved in the Nanga Parbat tourists’ killing.

Senior Investigating Officer Muhammad Naveed said that among the suspects arrested four culprits are those who shot at the tourists at Nanga Parbat base camp while others were involved in planning and executing it, warning that seven are still at large.

The suspects revealed that their original plan was to kidnap the trekkers but the plan went foul when one of the Chinese resisted and one of the terrorists shot him dead. On his death the terrorists sprayed bullets at all the other tourists, an investigating officer said.

The officer further said if the kidnap had worked it would have been almost impossible for them to escape with the hostages because of the difficult terrain.

Another 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. This group was launched as an extension of the Pakistani Taliban in the northern region, the official said.

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

The 11 victims of the attack 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 in the incident.