Nine tourists killed at mountain base camp in Kashmir Gunmen have killed 10 people

Nine tourists killed at mountain base camp in Kashmir

Gunmen have killed 10 people, including nine foreign tourists after

storming a hotel in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.



Officials say five are from Ukraine, one from Russia and three from

China. A Pakistani guide also died in the attack.



It happened at the base camp of Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth

highest mountain, in Gilgit-Baltistan.



It is the first such attack on tourists in the region. A Sunni

militant group, Jundullah, said it was responsible.



Police had at first said 10 foreign tourists had died. The motive for

the killings is not yet clear.



Reports say those killed in the attack were nine trekkers and their

Pakistani guide.



One person, said to be Chinese, has survived the attack.



Part of the Himalayan Range, Nanga Parbat, standing at 8,126m

(26,660ft), is popular with trekkers and mountaineers, especially

during June and July.



The assault is seen as a significant blow for Pakistan's already

struggling tourist industry, the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani reports from

Islamabad.



'Very remote'

The attackers, reportedly dressed in police uniforms, stormed the

hotel at the base camp in the foothills of Nanga Parbat shortly after

midnight.



"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying

last night and opened fire," Ali Sher, a senior police officer, told

Reuters.



The gunmen allegedly took the foreigners' money and passports before

shooting them.



A senior official said the area, in Diamer district, had been sealed

off and police were hunting for the killers.



"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their

bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," he said.



President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have

condemned the attack.



Mr Sharif, who was re-elected earlier this month, said "such acts of

cruelty and inhumanity" would not be tolerated.



Meanwhile Gilgit governor Syed Mehdi Shah is set to hold a meeting

with regional law enforcement agencies on Sunday to discuss the

security situation in the area, Radio Pakistan reports.



"A lot of tourists come to this area in the summer, and our local

people work to earn money from these people," he said.



"This will not only affect our area, but will adversely affect all of Pakistan."



Correspondents say Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China, had been

considered one of the more secure areas under Pakistani control.



However, in recent years it has suffered a spate of attacks by

militants targeting Pakistan's Shia Muslim minority.





The area is famous for its natural beauty and the main city of Gilgit

is seen as a gateway to the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges.



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