A tragedy, and also a very worrying portent for the future. Off course there's no possible justification for killing foreign climbers in retaliation for drone strikes, but unfortunately this wasn't an irrational act. Nor was it an isoIated incident. It's part of an ongoing wave of terrorist attacks in Pakistan which include attacks on Pakistan's Shia minority - hence presumably the murder of base camp cook Ali Husein along with 10 climbers. For some more background, have a look at my article
http://www.himalayamasala.com/himalaya-blog/massacre-nanga-parbat BTW Nickua, I think the photo you've posted shows Fairy Meadow, which was wrongly given in some media reports as the scene of the attack. It actually happened at Diamir Base Camp, which is a rather more remote location. The stuff about the attackers storming a hotel was just garbled media reporting - foreigners attacked, no more information, so it must have been a hotel mustn't it, better fill in some details and make a coherent story.
Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:07 pm