UK eases travel advisory to Gilgit-Baltistan

Advises against “all travel” to many other cities, including Peshawar, Quetta and Nawabshah

The United Kingdom (UK) foreign office lifted advice against travelling to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) as the region was previously considered unsafe owing to security concerns, The Telegraph reported.


The scenic G-B region of the country was deemed unsuitable in June 2013 after a group of foreign mountaineers were massacred by militants in the region in the same year.

Read: Gunmen kill 9 foreign tourists, guide in Gilgit-Baltistan

Northern Pakistan is home to some of the world’s tallest mountains, including K2, the world’s second-highest peak and the lifting of the advice means that some of the most scenic mountainous ranges will become more accessible to Britons.



PHOTO: REUTERS

Founder of adventure tour operator Wild Frontiers Jonny Bealby said the revised travel advice was “great news” for the area.

“Gilgit-Baltistan is very close to my heart, as the beauty of the area and the hospitality of the local people inspired me to start Wild Frontiers, in order to allow others to discover this fantastic region,” Bealby added.

Read: Himalayan massacre spells end for Pakistan mountaineering

“We are delighted to see that the Foreign Office now agrees with our assessment of the situation and hope this will encourage others to start running trips to this most beautiful part of the world,” he added.



PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM/HUNZAGUIDESPAKISTAN/FILE

However, the Foreign Office still advises against “all but essential” travel to other parts of Pakistan, including the Kalash Valley, the Bamoboret Valley and Arandu district to the south and west of the town of Chitral.

Read: A paradise lost: Nanga Parbat massacre tarnishes tourism

Further, it advises against “all travel” to many other cities and districts, including Peshawar, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, northern and western Balochistan and Nawabshah.

Approximately 270,000 Britons visit Pakistan every year.

Recently, police in Gilgit-Baltistan set up a special high-altitude unit in a bid to entice back climbers after a group of foreign mountaineers were massacred by militants in the region in 2013.

The new 50-strong unit will be trained by professional climbers and equipped with special gear to help them work in the harsh terrain of the Gilgit-Baltistan region.



PHOTO: AFP

Mountaineers have long been drawn to the area by the challenging climbs, but tourism was badly hit by the June 2013 killings at the base camp of Nanga Parbat, Pakistan’s number two peak.

Read: G-B police to train high-altitude force to protect mountain climbers

In the 2013 massacre, gunmen shot dead nine foreign climbers and their guide at the base camp of Nanga Parbat, already long known as the “killer mountain” for the number of people who had perished trying to scale it.