Russian climbers evacuated from attack site in Pakistan

Russian climbers and other members of the two expeditions in the Pakistani mountains have been evacuated from the area where foreign tourists were attacked, executive director of the Russian Federation of Climbers Alexei Ovchinnikov told Itar-Tass. On the night to June 23, a group of armed people attacked an international camp of climbers in the Pakistani region of Gilgit-Baltistan. According to the local press, ten people were killed. The movement Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack. Two expeditions, including ten Russian citizens, were in the mountains at the time. The Russians were higher on the slope at the moment of the attack. About 60 climbers, including ten Russians, descended down, and military helicopters evacuated them to a military base, where they were questioned by representatives of authorities. Some of them were evacuated to Islamabad, Ovchinnikov said. All the Russians are alive and safe. Nothing threatens them now. However, they are in a state of shock, he noted. Among the participants in the international expedition to the Nanga Parbat peak are citizens from Poland, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Latvia, Canada and Russia.