ISLAMABAD: Moving ahead with his ‘Mission Summit 14’, Pakistani climber Sirbaz Khan left the country on Monday to summit the 8,167-meter-high Dhaulagiri mountain, the world’s seventh highest peak, located in Nepal.
Born and raised in Ali Abad village in Pakistan’s mountainous Hunza district, Khan has already summited eight out of 14 of the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest.
He is the only Pakistani other than legendary climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara — killed during a K2 winter expedition this year — to have summited eight of the world’s highest peaks. K2, at 8,611 meters, is the world’s second highest and most deadly peak, often referred to as the ‘Savage Mountain.’
“I am associated with climbing for the last four years. I have summited eight peaks that stand above 8,000 meters,” Khan told Arab News on Saturday. “This expedition [of Mount Dhaulagiri] is my ninth.”
If Khan succeeds in his ascent of Dhaulagiri mountain, he will be the first Pakistani ever to have summited nine of the highest peaks in the world.
This year Khan also summited Mount Everest and Annapurna in Nepal, and Gasherbrum-II in Pakistan.
While announcing his expedition plan last week, Khan said his ‘Mission Summit 14’ was not just about getting his name into the record books but would be a matter of “pride” for his country.
“Most importantly, it is about earning respect and honor for the extraordinary yet the unsung mountaineering community of Pakistan,” he said in a Facebook post:
“When I climb on these mountains where no Pakistani has ever climbed before me, it is not just me climbing alone, it’s Pakistan climbing with me ... Each time I raise the green flag on a mountain, that piece of cloth claps in the name of respect and honor deserved by great Pakistani mountaineers – all those who came before me and those who will come after.”
Speaking to Arab News, Khan urged the Pakistani government to take steps to facilitate the nation’s mountaineers, saying there was no dearth of talent in Pakistan if only the government established mountaineering schools and offered financial support.
Speaking about his teacher Ali Sadpara, Khan said: “I know Ali Bhai since 2005. In the field of climbing, my first ever expedition of Nangaparbat was with him. He was my teacher in mountaineering and I have climbed four peaks, including K2 and Mount Manaslu, with him.”
Sadpara and his two expedition members were making their second attempt at climbing K2 this winter when they were lost.
“Now we are deprived of a legendary climber,” Khan said about Sadpara’s death.
In January this year, a team of 10 Nepali climbers made history by becoming the first to ever scale K2 in winter.
To a question about the difference between Pakistani and Nepalese climbers, Khan said Pakistani climbers were physically very strong, but technically weak as compared to the Nepalese.
“Lack of training and financial issues are the main hurdles in the way of such achievements,” he said. “That’s why no Pakistani has summited all 14 peaks.”
Ali Sadpara mentee Sirbaz Khan eyes Nepal’s Dhaulagiri peak to set new national record
https://arab.news/2m2nx
Ali Sadpara mentee Sirbaz Khan eyes Nepal’s Dhaulagiri peak to set new national record
- If Khan succeeds in summiting Dhaulagiri, he will be first Pakistani ever to climb nine of world’s 14 highest peaks
- Khan says has climbed four peaks with legendary mountaineer Ali Sadpara who died attempting this year’s K2 winter expedition
Pakistan to maintain hard line on Afghanistan after strikes as Taliban vows military response
- Islamabad blames Afghanistan’s ‘guerrilla mindset’ for escalating tensions between the two countries
- Afghan Taliban spokesperson denies militant presence in his country, accuses Pakistan of hitting civilians
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan vowed on Wednesday to continue its current policy toward Afghanistan unless the Taliban leadership abandons its “guerrilla mindset,” days after Islamabad carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory, sharply escalating tensions between the two neighbors once again.
Pakistan conducted intelligence-based strikes overnight into Sunday in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar and southeastern Paktika provinces, saying it had targeted camps of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), its affiliates and Daesh-linked fighters.
Islamabad has long accused Kabul of allowing militant groups to use Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces, a charge the Taliban deny. The two sides also clashed in October last year, leading Pakistan to close key border crossings for bilateral and transit trade.
State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry told Geo News that Pakistan had attempted dialogue but would now persist with practical measures if the Taliban failed to change course.
“They call themselves a state, but they have not yet emerged from their guerrilla mindset,” he said.
“Now, with the practical steps we are taking, we want to change their behavior and see them in the form of a state,” he added.
Pakistan blamed a string of recent suicide bombings in Islamabad, Bajaur and Bannu on militants operating from Afghan territory before launching the latest strikes.
Chaudhry said Afghanistan had been acting like “an irresponsible neighbor,” warning that his country’s current approach would continue if attacks inside Pakistan persisted.
“This war will be won, and all this will end,” he said. “If it is not resolved the straight way, then it will be completely ended by a hard-line approach.”
Meanwhile, Kabul has condemned the airstrikes as violations of its sovereignty and said civilians were killed.
In an interview with Al Arabiya, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also pledged to respond militarily.
“It would be a military response, but its details are confidential and I cannot explain further,” he said.
Mujahid rejected Pakistan’s allegations that TTP or Daesh militants operate from Afghan soil, saying security problems inside Pakistan were domestic in nature.
“Afghan soil is not allowed to be used against anyone,” he said, adding that Kabul had carried out extensive operations against Daesh and eliminated its presence in Afghanistan.
The 2,600-kilometer border between the two countries remains a vital trade and transit route, but crossings have faced repeated closures amid rising tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement.
Several regional countries, including Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Qatar, have sought to mediate between the two countries, though their military exchanges risk further destabilizing their ties.
