Murder suspects escape from Pakistan prison

(MENAFN- Arab News) ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani militant suspects facing trial for the massacre of 10 foreign climbers two years ago escaped from jail on Friday an official said.

Gunmen stormed base camp at Nanga Parbat Pakistan's second-highest mountain in June 2013 and shot dead the mountaineers along with their Pakistani guide in an attack that shocked the world and badly damaged Pakistan's climbing tourism industry.

Two other prisoners were shot and killed in the jailbreak in northern Gilgit agency said Sultan Faisal the prison's deputy inspector general. The four had dug a tunnel from their barracks to the wall of the prison another jail official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

'Four militants jailed in the district prison of Gilgit attempted to escape. They were countered by forces but two of them succeeded in their attempt' Liaquat Ali a senior administration official in Gilgit told AFP by telephone.

The escaped militants were awaiting trial over the attacks.

'Among them one was Habib-ur-Rehman accused of killing foreign mountaineers on Nanga Parbat in 2013 and the other inmate Liaquat was involved in an attack on security forces in Chilas region.'

Ali said they broke out at around 2:45 a.m. (2145 GMT) and security forces have cordoned off the area as the search for the escapees.

Another senior official in the district Muhammad Ajmal Bhatti confirmed the incident and said the authorities had 'locked down the city to comb for the escaped militants'.

Northern Pakistan is home to some of the world's tallest mountains including K2 the world's second-highest peak.

Mountaineers have long been drawn to the area by the challenging climbs but tourism was badly hit by the Nanga Parbat killings.

On Monday police announced the creation of a new 50-strong specialist high-altitude unit in a bid to protect climbers and trekkers in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Militant groups have organised several mass jailbreaks in Pakistan in recent years including one in the northwestern town of Bannu in 2012 that sprung 400 prisoners.

Victims of the mountain assault included climbers from China Lithuania Nepal Slovakia Ukraine and one person with joint US-Chinese citizenship. One Chinese climber escaped.

The Pakistani Taleban originally claimed responsibility for the slaughter by gunmen dressed as police officers but most of those arrested allegedly belong to Lashkar-e-Jhangi a separate militant movement.

The once-peaceful areas of northern Pakistan where the Himalayan Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges meet have been increasingly infiltrated by militants seeking to gain footholds beyond their traditional hideouts on Pakistan's porous border with Afghanistan.