The coffin of a Chinese mountaineer killed by terrorists in Pakistan is carried into a vehicle operated by the city of Islamabad. Zhang Yong / Xinhua |
Two Chinese mountaineers and one Chinese American were killed in a pre-dawn terrorist attack that claimed 10 lives in Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan area on Sunday.
The Chinese embassy in Pakistan confirmed the attack, saying that one Chinese national was rescued and details about the dead Chinese were being investigated.
According to Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the Chinese who escaped the attack was able to hide and was later rescued.
Early Sunday morning, a group of gunmen dressed as paramilitary police stormed a base camp for the 8,125-meter snow-covered Nanga Parbat peak, the ninth-highest mountain in the world, and shot dead five Ukrainians, one Russian and one Pakistani guide, in addition to the other three. AFP said that the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Local media said that there were an estimated 10 to 12 militants involved in the attack. They woke up the tourists, ordered them to come out of the hotel and opened fire on them, said the report.
The Foreign Ministry on Sunday denounced the attack, urging Pakistan to rescue survivors, arrest and punish the murderers, and properly follow up on the incident.
Yang Chunfeng, a 45-year-old experienced mountaineer from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was confirmed as one of the two dead Chinese climbers.
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