Daily Times

Pakistan’s Army has rescued two foreign climbers trapped in the country’s eastern Karakoram mountain range in the Himalayas, the army announced Sunday.

“Pakistan Army Aviation pilots rescued two foreign mountain climbers, Mr. Donald Allen Bowie (USA) and Ms. Lotta Henriikka Nakyva (Finland) from Broad Peak, Baltoro Glacier … part of an International Winter Expedition attempting to summit Broad Peak but stranded en route due to sickness,” said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing.

Broad Peak, also known as K-3 – the world’s 12th-highest peak, towering 8,051 meters (26,414 feet) ­– is located in the Karakoram range about 8 km from K-2. It has a summit of over 1.5 km long, and thus is known as Broad Peak.

The Siachen Glaciers region, known as the world’s highest battlefield, are located in the eastern Karakoram mountain range in the Himalayas, huddled next to the borders of Pakistan, India, and China.

Every year foreign mountaineers visit the region, also called the “mountaineers’ paradise,” as five of the world’s 8,000m-plus peaks are located in northern Gilgit-Baltistan region of the country, including K-2, the world’s famed second-highest peak.

Last year, two British mountaineers trapped near the Koyo Zom peak in the Chitral district were retrieved by Pakistan’s army.

Koyo Zom, the highest peak in the Hindu Raj range with a summit at over 6,700 m (22,000 ft), is located between the Hindu Kush and Karakoram ranges at the boundary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan provinces.

In 2018 French mountaineer Elisabeth Revol was rescued from Nanga Parbat, after becoming trapped there while trying to summit the peak.

The Nanga Parbat mountain is the second highest mountain peak of Pakistan and overall the ninth highest mountain in the world. The word Nanga Parbat literally means “Naked Mountain,” which has three gigantic faces. The main peak is 8,126 meters (26,660 ft) above sea level. The second is the Rakhiot face that is covered mostly by the north and south silver cliffs and silver plateau. The third one is the Diamir face which is rock-strewn in the starting. It transforms itself into ice fields around Nanga Parbat peak. This third segment of Nanga Parbat is also known as the Rupal face that is the highest precipice in the world.