ISLAMABAD: Scottish climber Rick Allen has died while attempting to summit Pakistan’s K2, his expedition team said, the latest death on the world’s second-highest peak.
Allen was killed after being hit by an avalanche while attempting a new route on the mountain over the weekend. His body was recovered on Sunday evening.
“After consulting with his family and friends, the legend will be buried this morning under the foot of Mighty K2,” Karakorum Expeditions wrote on Facebook Monday.
A charity that Allen was raising money for during the climb also confirmed his death.
“Rick died doing what he loved the most and lived his life with the courage of his convictions,” tweeted Partners Relief & Development, adding that two other climbers on the expedition survived the avalanche.
Allen’s death comes a week after South Korea’s Kim Hong-bin was killed after falling into a crevasse while descending from the nearby Broad Peak.
With Pakistan’s borders open and few other places to go due to the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s summer climbing season is attracting a large number of alpinists.
The summer season follows history being made in northern Pakistan as a team of Nepali climbers became the first to summit K2 in the winter.
But at least five other climbers died on K2’s slopes while a sixth went missing during an ascent on a nearby peak.
Known as “the savage mountain,” K2 has harsh conditions — winds can blow at more than 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour) and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit).
Unlike the world’s highest peak Mount Everest, which has been scaled by thousands of climbers young and old, K2 is much less traveled.
Scottish climber dies on Pakistan’s K2
https://arab.news/bg6et
Scottish climber dies on Pakistan’s K2
- Allen was killed after being hit by an avalanche while attempting a new route on the mountain over the weekend
- Allen’s death comes week after South Korea’s Kim Hong-bin was killed in a fall descending from nearby Broad Peak
Peace can only prevail if Afghanistan renounces support for ‘terrorism’— Pakistan defense chief
- Pakistan’s chief of defense forces visits South Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan
- Pakistan says has killed 481 Afghan Taliban operatives since clashes began last Thursday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir said on Wednesday that peace with Afghanistan can only prevail if Kabul renounces support for “terrorism” and “terrorist” organizations, the military’s media wing said as the two countries remain locked in conflict.
Fighting between the two neighbors, the worst in decades, broke out last Thursday night after Afghan forces attacked Pakistan’s military installations along their shared border. Afghanistan said its attacks were in response to earlier airstrikes by Pakistan against alleged militant hideouts in its country.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering militant outfits such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on its soil who have launched attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces in recent years. Kabul denies the allegations.
Munir visited Wana town in Pakistan’s South Waziristan district to review the security situation and troops’ operational preparedness at the Afghan border, the Pakistani military’s media wing said in a statement.
“The Field Marshal reiterated that peace could only prevail between both sides if the Afghan Taliban renounced their support for terrorism and terrorist organizations,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The military chief said the use of Afghan soil by militant outfits to launch attacks against Pakistan was unacceptable, vowing that “all necessary measures” would be taken to neutralize cross-border threats.
During the visit, Munir was briefed by military commanders about ongoing intelligence-based operations and measures being taken by the military to manage the border with Afghanistan.
He was also briefed about “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq” or “Wrath for the Truth,” the name Pakistan has given to its military operation against Afghan forces, the ISPR said.
The Pakistani military chief spoke to troops deployed in the area, praising their vigilance, professional conduct and high morale, the ISPR said.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the military has killed 481 Taliban operatives, injured more than 690 and destroyed 226 Afghan checkposts since clashes began.
Arab News has been unable to verify claims by both sides about the damages they claim to have inflicted on each other.
Afghanistan has signaled it is open for dialogue but Pakistan rejected the offer, saying it would continue its military operations till its objectives were achieved.
Since the conflict began, diplomatic efforts have intensified with several countries, including global bodies such as the European Union and United Nations, urging restraint and calling for talks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Ankara would help reinstate a ceasefire, the Turkish Presidency said on Tuesday, as other countries that had offered to mediate have since been hit by the conflict in the Gulf.
