Following the terrorist attack on Nanga Parbat in which gummen attacked and killed 10 foreign tourists, Pakistan has suspended all mountaineering expeditions on the mountain. Fifty to fifty-five climbers currently on the mountain have been asked to leave.
鈥淸The murdered climbers] were our guests and what we did with them while they were sleeping in their tents is a matter of disgrace for us all,鈥 Aftabur Rehman Rana, president of the Sustainable Tourism Foundation of Pakistan told the . 鈥淭his is not what Islam has taught us 鈥 The killing of foreign climbers on the way to Nanga Parbat Diamer Base Camp will have far reaching negative impacts on the already lifeless tourism industry of Pakistan.鈥
The Gilgit-Baltistan region where Nanga Parbat is located became a tourist hub in the 1970s, as people travelled on the Asia Overland Route to reach it. In recent years, the region has remained a bright spot amid the violence. Trekking companies are already registering cancellations, and the trend threatens to derail the region’s economy which depends on the 15,000 to 20,000 adventure tourists who visit each summer.