2013 Nanga Parbat massacre

2013 Nanga Parbat massacre
Part of the War in North-West Pakistan
The base camp where the attack took place, with Nanga Parbat visible in the background
Nanga Parbat is located in Gilgit Baltistan
Nanga Parbat
Nanga Parbat
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Location of Nanga Parbat within Gilgit–Baltistan
Nanga Parbat is located in Pakistan
Nanga Parbat
Nanga Parbat
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Location of Nanga Parbat within Pakistan
LocationNanga Parbat, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan
Date22 June 2013 (2013-06-22) – 23 June 2013 (2013-06-23)
10:00 p.m.–12:00 a.m. (Pakistan Standard Time, UTC+05:00)
TargetForeign mountaineering party
Attack type
Mass shooting
Deaths11
Injured2
PerpetratorTehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
MotiveRetaliation for American drone strikes in North-West Pakistan

The 2013 Nanga Parbat massacre was a terrorist attack that took place on the night of 22 June 2013 in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. About 16 terrorists, reportedly dressed in Gilgit−Baltistan Scouts uniforms, stormed a high-altitude mountaineering base camp and killed 11 people; 10 climbers and one local tourist guide.[1] The climbers were from various countries, including Ukraine, China, Slovakia, Lithuania and Nepal.[2][3][4] A Chinese citizen managed to escape the assailants, and a member of the group from Latvia happened to be outside the camp during the attack.[5][6] The attack took place at a base camp on Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest mountain on Earth.[7] The mountain is popular among trekkers and mountaineers, and is typically toured from June to August because of the ideal weather conditions during these months.[7]

In November 2013, many of the assailants involved in the attack were arrested and tried under the Anti-Terrorist Act, although most of those who were arrested had been released by 2014; the identities of the actual perpetrators were never confirmed. According to the Pakistani Senate's standing committee on foreign relations, the original motive of the terrorists had not been to kill the tourists, but to kidnap them for ransom.[8]

  1. ^ Zarar Khan; Sebastian Abbot (23 June 2013). "Pakistan Gunmen Kill 10 Foreign Mountain Climbers Preparing Nanga Parbat Ascent". Huffington Post.
  2. ^ "10 foreign victims identified after Pakistan attack". AFP via Times of Oman. 24 June 2013. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Gunmen kill 9 foreign tourists in Pakistan". Usatoday.com. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference reuters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Latvian citizen unscathed in Nanga Parbat terror attack due to lucky coincidence". 25 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference chin. was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference bbc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Committee's findings: 'Militants did not want to kill Nanga Parbat tourists'". Express Tribune. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.