Nine tourists killed at mountain base camp in Kashmir
Source: BBC
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.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23018706
Nolimit
(142 posts)Why, what do they have to gain by killing those people? Did they just determine those people deserved to die?
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Why? IDK.
question everything
(47,572 posts)because "we declared war on them?"
How easy it is to sit safe and comfortable and use your keyboard to express these ideas.
cliffordu
(30,994 posts)strange justification.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Cha
(297,948 posts)Very Sad.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)JI7
(89,285 posts)so you kill people from the ukraine, russia ,china and even a pakistani ?
peacebird
(14,195 posts)I mean, the taliban is saying to those countries, how do YOU like having your innocent civilians slaughtered, and we did this because the US is slaughtering innocent civilians with drones....
It is brutal, and totally wrong, but so is "our" drone program.
JI7
(89,285 posts)these are the people who shoot, blow up, and throw acid at girls for going to school .
peacebird
(14,195 posts)JI7
(89,285 posts)that.
they are upset when the drone kills one of their fellow terrorists as they said in this case. they said it was because of a drone strike which killed one of their members . not because they were upset over innocent people dying.
Lucky Luciano
(11,267 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)as opposed to bringing all of Kashmir under Muslm rule.
cali
(114,904 posts)because of 9/11
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)Iraqis in response to 9/11? Doesn't make the murderers/terrorists any more right, but it does mean we probably shouldn't be too quick to climb up on our soapbox.
secondvariety
(1,245 posts)I am so sick of fundamental fanatics of any stripe.
jessie04
(1,528 posts)One isolated event and let's bash an entire religion.
Islam is a religion of peace.
former9thward
(32,128 posts)Hardly "One isolated event". This goes on a daily basis. If you don't know that you must be wearing thick blinders.
Response to jessie04 (Reply #11)
Post removed
samsingh
(17,604 posts)Botany
(70,635 posts)This is something to be real proud about. I hope those that did this act and those that
helped them carry it out meet a quick and violent death. No excuses for this kind of
slaughter.
jessie04
(1,528 posts)No questions, no trying to understand their legitimate grievances ,
And you wonder why this happens.
Botany
(70,635 posts)The time to talk about your legitimate reasons is over after you go and
slaughter innocent people.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)We've left a trail of corpses wherever they go, including bunches of innocent civilians. Is shooting hikers somehow worse than bombing wedding parties or Afghan villages? I won't even mention Iraq. Oops.
jessie04
(1,528 posts)nt
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Ash_F
(5,861 posts)JoeyT
(6,785 posts)blasting children with drones, but we do it anyway.
There aren't any legitimate reasons that warrant such actions, but people here are entirely too happy to pretend our hands are clean.
samsingh
(17,604 posts)you do injustice to all the innocent victims
mainer
(12,037 posts)Will they want to mete out some justice? The Taliban is so reckless they don't care which tiger's tail they're yanking.
Beacool
(30,253 posts)They are more concerned about that useful idiot, Snowden.
vinny9698
(1,016 posts)Tourism is a cash cow to these underdeveloped areas and the government, corporations are going to make sure it doesn't happen again. When the tourist trade is harmed, a lot of people lose big money, lose jobs, lose a way of making a living. There are to many self-interests involved in settling this crime.
In Thailand they have Tourist Police, which carry vests with those words on the back. You complain to one of them about an establishment they will shut it down. They are very prevalent in tourist areas and Aussies abuse the system to get free beer from bars. Aussies complain about being overcharged and the bar just returns them their money, to afraid being shut down for a few beers.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)this would not have happened.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)...sent climbers to Pakistan? Honest to gawd I would go ANYWHERE in the world before I would travel to Pakistan right now. There is just no fucking way that Pakistan could be considered a safe travel destination.
TYY
DreamGypsy
(2,252 posts)A tour company that takes people to the places those people choose to go - Nanga Parbat. The climbers were undoubtedly aware of the mountaineering risks and accepted those; presumably they knew the political risks as well. Sad, but the reality nonetheless.
Nanga Parbat is a truly awesome spectacle. The south face is the largest in the world extending over four kilometres above base camp. To date there have only been five ascents from the south. Nanga Parbat means "Naked Mountain" in Hindi/Urdu and is with reference to the south face's exposed rock buttresses. The north face is equally intimidating. In contrast to the south faces steep rock and ice the snowy north face is guarded by a broad barrier of seracs that extend the width of the mountain. Climbers before the Second World War were convinced that the only way to climb the mountain was from the north via a long arc extending over Rakhiot Peak (7010m), between the two summits of Silberzacken and finally to the summit of Nanga Parbat thereby avoiding a more direct ascent of the north face. The route was dangerously prone to avalanche and exposed to bad weather. 31 people died attempting to climb the mountain leading to it acquiring the infamous name of the Killer Mountain. Nowadays it is not such a killer and there are other peaks that could inherit the nickname (eg Ultar or Batura I). Hermann Buhls summit route has only been repeated once (Slovak, 1971) to this day. His ascent marked only the third 8000m ascent after Annapurna I (1950) and Everest and was the only first summit of all the 8000ers to be done without oxygen and of course solo. Most attempts nowadays are via the Westerly Diamir face which is generally considered to be the easiest and safest with the Kinshofer Route the normal route. Nanga Parbat as of 2005, had received 263 ascents by 261 individuals (Messner and SP Member Qudrat Ali have climbed it twice) at a price of 62 deaths. Sixteen women have summited the mountain. Numerous challenging lines still await. The most difficult is an ascent of Nanga Parbat via the unclimbed Mazeno Ridge which constitutes the longest ridge in the world. A number of expeditions have made attempts on the mountain during winter but to no avail.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)...and then tell me you would venture into Pakistan.
TYY
DreamGypsy
(2,252 posts)Mountain climbing is not one of my passions.
For better or worse, guiding provides a livelihood for many people in mountainous areas. As various countries have developed middle and upper classes that can afford 'hobbies' like climbing, tour companies have become an important part of the economy in some regions.
The Ukrainian, Russian, and Chinese governments probably do not recommend that their citizens look at U.S. State Department warnings about threats to U.S citizens. Did the tour company alert their customers to possible risks? I don't know, but if it was a U.S. company it certainly would have required indemnity against the consequences. I expect many of the businesses in Pakistan to not face the same legal issues that are experienced in the U.S.
The tour company was doing what it does. The eight climbers and the guide were apparently adults who should have been aware of the risks they were taking. Did those who died show bad judgement? In retrospect it's easy to say yes.
Did the U.S. show bad judgement establishing a drone program that kills civilians as well as other targets in a country with which the U.S. is not at war? In retrospect ....
ps: I think the guiding/climbing fad causes significant environment and social problems in many cases. However, given the havoc that we wreak on the environment in the U.S., it's difficult to take a strong moral stand on the issue.
mainer
(12,037 posts)I suspect that tourists from China and Ukraine, which have nothing to do with drone attacks, thought they were not targets.
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)Has the military actually been reigning this in? Or does it just not make the news anymore?
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Not sure if it's a policy thing so much as we've run out of parts of Baluchistan and Waziristan to blow up.
Eugene
(61,974 posts)Source: Associated Press
American among 10 tourists killed by Pakistani militants
Updated 1:18 p.m. ET
ISLAMABAD - At least a dozen Islamic militants wearing police uniforms shot to death overnight a Pakistani and 10 foreign tourists, including an American, who were visiting one of the world's highest mountains in a remote area of northern Pakistan that has been largely peaceful, officials said Sunday.
The shooting was one of the worst attacks on foreigners in Pakistan in recent years and is likely to damage the country's already struggling tourism industry. Pakistan's mountainous north considered until now relatively safe is one of the main attractions in a country beset with insurgency and other political instability.
The local branch of the Taliban took responsibility for the killings, saying it was to avenge the death of a leader killed in a recent U.S. drone strike.
The 10 foreigners who were killed included two Chinese, one Chinese-American and one Nepalese, said Attaur Rehman, home secretary in the Gilgit-Baltistan area where the attack took place. The other six have not been identified. One Pakistani was also killed, Rehman said.
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Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57590611/american-among-10-tourists-killed-by-pakistani-militants/
jessie04
(1,528 posts)terriblw