Islamabad: Militants have released a senior minister of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and a number of tourists after ‘successful’ negotiations with the officials in Diamer district.
The GB provincial minister Col (R) Obaidullah Baig along with his son and a number of tourists was on the way to Islamabad from Gilgit when they were held hostage by a group of local militants led by ‘Mujahideen of Gilgit Baltistan & Kohistan’ an offshoot of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The militants had blocked the road connecting GB with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), leaving the travellers on both sides stranded for many hours.
As the news of the militants occupying the main artery in Diamer went viral on social media, local political and religious leaders along with officials of the district administration rushed to hold talks with militants headed by Abdul Hamid who was demanding release of some militants and disallowing women’s sports in GB.
10-day deadline
A member of GB team of negotiators said Abdul Hamid had given a 10-day deadline to the government for release of arrested terrorists.
According to the militants, the GB government had agreed to release their accomplices but was not willing to do so. Some of those who were behind bars are facing charges of killing foreign climbers in 2013.
The militants first held a protest demonstration on the Babusar Road, later they blocked it along with the arteries connecting KP to other parts of the country.
The protesters were also demanding imposition of Shariah in the province.
In an audio tape that is making the rounds on social media, the GB minister can be heard saying he was going to Gilgit when the militants obstructed the route and demanded release of their imprisoned allies.
2013 Nanga Parbat massacre
The 2013 Nanga Parbat massacre was a terrorist attack that left 11 people — 10 foreign climbers — dead. The attack took place on the night of 22 June when around 16 militants dressed in the GB Scouts’ uniforms stormed a high-altitude mountaineering base camp and went on a killing spree.
The climbers who lost their lives were from various countries, including Ukraine, China, Slovakia, Lithuania and Nepal. A Chinese citizen managed to escape the assailants while a member of the group from Latvia happened to be outside the camp during the attack.
Police had arrested three militants, including GB’s most wanted militant commander, Habibur Rehman, for killing 10 foreigners in Nanga Parbat area in 2013, but he managed to escape two years later from Gilgit Jail along with an accomplice. Another accomplice of the commander, who failed to flee, is currently in a Punjab prison and awaiting trial in a military court.
He went into hiding soon for six years after the jailbreak. On July 7, 2021, however, he reappeared in public and held an ‘open court’ at the polo ground of Babusar in Diamer district.