TANZANIA: Cyclist and athlete Samar Khan, who hails from Dir, Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), has become the first Pakistani woman to summit Africa’s highest peak Mount Kilimanjaro.
After completing the long arduous ride, Samar, 27, posted on her Facebook account: “With all your prayers & best wishes, successfuly scaled #KIBO (Uhuru Peak) & rode on it all the way to #MoshiGate.”
Khan further informed her well-wishers that she is on her way back to Pakistan after the ascent and will reach Islamabad on Monday morning. Mount Kilimanjaro – which is located in Tanzania – is 5,895 metres above sea level and known as the ‘roof of Africa’.
The Tanzanian Tourism Department awarded Samar with a certificate for climbing the mountain.
Khan was spnsored by Pakisan Army for this trip. In a video message in late October, Samar thanked Pakistan Army for funding her trip and making her dreams turn into reality. “On [the] special instructions of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan Army is financially sponsoring talented young cyclist Samar Khan, [who hails] from Dir, Malakand division in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) P, for her participation in mountain cycling event in Tanzania this November,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
Previously, Samar became the first woman in the world to have cycled on the 4,500-metre-high Biafo glacier in Gilgit-Baltistan.
