2 killed in reaction to Shia killings in Gilgit: Sources

Prime minister orders PAF to run C-130 flights from Islamabad-Rawalpindi to Gilgit and Skardu.

ISLAMABAD: Two truck drivers were killed in Nagar’s Chalt valley of Gilgit-Baltistan in reaction to the massacre of 19 Shia passengers, sources told The Express Tribune by phone from Gilgit. One of the victims was identified as Muhammad Ishaque from Mohmand Agency.

A sepoy of the Rangers was also shot and injured in Gilgit, Daily Express/Express News correspondent Shakoor Azam told The Express Tribune.

In a related development, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf called G-B Chief Minister Mehdi Shah and expressed grief over the incident in Naran.

Ashraf ordered Pakistan Air Force (PAF) authorities to operate C-130 flights to Gilgit and Skardu to help transport passengers stranded in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, enabling them to celebrate Eidul Fitr with their families.

Hundreds of passengers, including women and children, have been stranded in the twin cities as public and private transport was suspended following the killing of 19 passengers in Babusar.