Army coordinating high risk operation to rescue mountaineers Shehroze Kashif, Fazal Ali

GILGILT: In a bid to retrieve stranded mountaineers Shehroze Kashif and Fazal Ali from Nanga Parbat, the Pakistan Army is coordinating a high risk rescue operation for the last 24 hours, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Thursday.

The Pakistani mountaineers had gone missing two days back while descending the summit of Nanga Parbat but were traced a day earlier. The mountaineer duo had summited the Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest peak in the world, on Tuesday.

In a statement, the military’s media wing said that army aviation helicopters and a ground search team — comprising high-altitude porters and rescuers — have been employed to rescue the mountaineers.

Pakistan army aviation pilots, in a daring attempt, flew two helicopter missions despite bad weather conditions but couldn’t pick up the mountaineers due to dense clouds and very high altitude, the ISPR said.

“Meanwhile, the ground search team is also nearing the stranded mountaineers who are currently at Camp-3 at a height of 21,000 feet. The army aviation pilots will fly again today subject to weather conditions as the ground team attempt to rescue the mountaineers to Camp-2,” it added.

Kashif’s father told Geo News earlier today that his son — during a brief chat from the base camp — has informed him that they were moving towards Camp 2.