GILGIT: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) personnel have rescued 120 foreigners, including three Americans from Gilgit-Baltistan and safely transported them to Chaklala airbase in Rawalpindi, Express News reported on Sunday.
Out of those rescued foreigners, many are Japanese nationals while some are from Norway, Canada and China.
PAF officials have said that they will continue with the rescue operation in order to rescue all the foreigners stranded in the area.
Earlier it was reported by AFP that Pakistan sent a military aircraft to Gilgit to evacuate over 80 foreigners, mostly Japanese tourists, who were stranded due to sectarian violence, police said.
The town has been under an indefinite curfew since April 3 when at least 14 people were killed and over 50 wounded in two separate incidents involving majority Sunni and minority Shia communities in Gilgit and Chilas towns.
Around 65 Japanese, mostly tourists are being transported with police escort to Gilgit from the nearby Hunza valley, senior police officer Tahira Yasubuddin told AFP.
Another batch of more than 20 Japanese and some other foreign visitors are stranded in Gilgit, she said.
“A C-130 aircraft has arrived in Gilgit to evacuate them,” the officer said, adding they would be flown to Islamabad later.
Clashes erupted in Gilgit on April 3 after gunmen opened fire during a strike called by Sunnis over the arrest of one of their leaders for his alleged involvement in a sectarian attack in February that left 18 dead.
After the incident the government imposed a curfew in the city.
Also on April 3 in Chilas, a Sunni-dominated town, a mob blocked the main Karakoram Highway and killed nine Shias.
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If this PAF plan can be used to evacuate foreigners from the area to Islamabad, why can’t it be used to bring sick and elders who need help to Islamabad? Why cannot it be used to bring food and medicine into Gilgit for the locals?
Love for All Hatred for none
The situation has become that desperate.
Sad, but not surprising. State apartheid policies, such as favoured Sunnification migration to dilute the local Shiite and ethnic G-B majority demographics since the Deoband/Wahhabi Zia's era continues with further collective discriminatory punishment and violence towards them in the north. The G-B Shiites have now taken an antagonistic stance against the local state, despite having a strong presence in Pak's northern military, as they are barely represented nationally and by local lawmakers of Deoband/Sunni backgrounds, some of whom, like the national state's establishment, have links to ASWJ and other mostly Sunni/Salafi violent extremist militant groups, allowed to roam free in the region due to shared twisted religious nationalist militant strategic ideology.
This country has truly gone to the dogs.... Now as if we are not already jeered around the entire World, this incident had to happen.
im a Pakistani and I wouldnt goto the northen areas (as much as i would love to) ... these tourists got balls!
what can the govt do if a lot of people from 2 main communities r bent on killing each other.
@vaqar: "@ Naqvi. You want the local population to be evacuated too?"
I am not Naqvi but my guess is that he wants the government to be as concerned about protecting life and property of Pakistanis as it is for foreigners.
What about the people who are in the hands of terrorists in Chilas and Gilgit. Have they been rescued as well.
The sad part about this news is that our government is so caught up in evacuating foreigners from areas affected by "sectarian violence". However it does nothing to save the lives of the people living in Gilgit Balochistan who are helpless in the area. Where is the army now? Where is the President with his French Chateau? The news coming from these areas is bone chilling. To top that off Firdaus Ashik Awan has decided to place a ban on the news coming from this region. Hence we sit here and read of foreigners becoming evacuated while the poor farmers of our country are left to kill each other off. This is a shameful situation on our country and most of all on the faces or our government.
@ Naqvi.
You want the local population to be evacuated too?
I just love the spirit of the Japanese people............. simply amazing.
Tourists who come to Pakistan must be called 'adventurers'. Knowing the state Pakistan is in, they still come. I salute their courage. Few locals would go touring Pakistan in this climate of killing and anarchy.
Bad name for already troubled tourism sector. We need to grow up fast now.