Last updated October 16, 2026
Nanga Parbat 2013 Attack: What Happened at Base Camp
Late on June 22, 2013, armed militants entered Nanga Parbat’s Diamir-side base camp in northern Pakistan. By the early hours of June 23, ten foreign mountaineers and Pakistani expedition cook Ali Hussain had been killed. The attack was not a climbing accident and should not be folded into Nanga Parbat’s avalanche, fall or altitude-fatality statistics. It was a deliberate attack that changed Pakistan mountaineering, security planning and the lives of eleven families.
What happened at Nanga Parbat in 2013?
Late on June 22, a group of roughly a dozen to sixteen armed men—contemporary reports differ on the exact number—entered the expedition camp below Nanga Parbat’s Diamir Face while wearing police or paramilitary-style uniforms. Eleven people were killed: ten foreign mountaineers and Ali Hussain, a Pakistani expedition cook. Chinese climber Zhang Jingchuan escaped and survived. The Pakistani Taliban later publicly claimed responsibility, saying the attack was carried out by a new faction in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that had killed senior TTP commander Waliur Rehman.
A Mountaineering Tragedy Caused by Violence, Not the Mountain
Nanga Parbat already had one of mountaineering’s darkest accident histories. The 2013 attack is different: the victims were killed at base camp by attackers, not by avalanche, altitude, weather or climbing error.
The Attack Took Place on the Diamir Side of Nanga Parbat
Nanga Parbat rises immediately south of the Indus corridor in Gilgit-Baltistan. Chilas is the main regional town; the modern commercial climbing route approaches the Diamir Face. This map is for broad orientation, not current expedition navigation or security planning.
Orientation points
The attack occurred at the Diamir-side expedition camp, not at Fairy Meadows or on the Rupal Face.
Diamir Base Camp Was an Expedition Home, Not a Battlefield
The climbers were in Pakistan to attempt one of the world’s great mountains. Most expedition members were higher on the route when the attackers arrived, a circumstance that meant many climbers who had been living at the same camp were not present that night.
The Attack: A High-Level Timeline
Contemporary accounts agree on the central sequence but differ on the exact number of attackers, the exact clock time and some early victim descriptions. The timeline below keeps to facts supported across multiple reports.
Many climbers were on the mountain
After poor weather had kept teams lower, improving conditions allowed many expedition members to move back up the Diamir / Kinshofer route. That left a smaller group in base camp.
Armed men entered the camp
Contemporary reporting placed the group at roughly 12–16 attackers. They wore police, paramilitary or Gilgit Scouts-style uniforms, according to different reports.
Eleven people were killed
Ten foreign mountaineers and Pakistani expedition cook Ali Hussain were killed. The attack was targeted violence against people in camp, not an accident on the mountain.
Zhang Jingchuan escaped
The Chinese climber survived by escaping the camp and later gave accounts of what happened to international media.
The attack became an international crisis
Pakistani authorities began a large search operation, climbers were evacuated, and the government initially suspended Nanga Parbat expeditions while the attack was investigated.
Why some sources say June 22 and others June 23
The attackers arrived late on June 22, with the killings unfolding overnight into June 23. Contemporary and later sources therefore use both dates. “Nanga Parbat 2013 attack” and “June 23 attack” generally refer to the same event.
The Eleven People Killed at Nanga Parbat Base Camp
The Alpine Club of Pakistan and UIAA published a condolence list naming all eleven. English transliterations vary slightly across contemporary reporting; the forms below follow the mountaineering record where possible.
A correction to early reporting
Early news reports often described the Pakistani victim as a “guide.” Later mountaineering records identify Ali Hussain as the cook for one of the expeditions. The distinction matters because he should be remembered accurately as part of the expedition community that was attacked.
The Attack Hit a Region Whose Livelihoods Depend on Mountain Travel
Porters, cooks, drivers, guides, hotel owners and outfitters across northern Pakistan depend on expedition and trekking seasons. The immediate human loss was followed by a sharp blow to tourism and international confidence.
The Pakistani Taliban Publicly Claimed the Attack
On June 24, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP that the movement was responsible. The TTP said a newly created wing—reported as Junud or Jundul Hafsa—had carried out the attack.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
The TTP publicly claimed responsibility through its spokesman in the immediate aftermath.
This is an attributed claim from the organization, not a motive inferred by Global Summit Guide.Retaliation for a drone strike
The spokesman said the killings were retaliation for the May 2013 U.S. drone strike that killed senior TTP leader Waliur Rehman.
The statement explains the group’s claimed motive; it does not justify the attack.Foreign climbers were deliberately targeted
Contemporary mountaineering and news reports described it as the first direct attack of this kind on foreign climbers in the region.
That is why the event occupies a separate place in Himalayan history.Zhang Jingchuan Escaped
Chinese mountaineer Zhang Jingchuan was in base camp when the attackers arrived and survived by escaping. He later described the night to journalists, including National Geographic and The Guardian.
His survival is also one reason the historical record contains direct eyewitness detail rather than only police reconstruction. Other expedition members survived because they were away from base camp—many higher on the mountain after the weather had improved.
This page does not reproduce graphic eyewitness detail.
The historical facts can be explained without turning the victims’ deaths into spectacle. Readers looking for contemporary firsthand reporting can use the source links below.
Expeditions Were Halted, Climbers Evacuated and a Large Search Began
Pakistan initially suspended Nanga Parbat expeditions after the killings and evacuated climbers from the affected area. Security forces and police launched search operations across Diamer District.
| Response | What happened | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Climber evacuation | Authorities removed expedition members from the affected Nanga Parbat area. | Teams that had been scattered between base camp and higher camps had to abandon or interrupt plans. |
| Search operation | Police, army and paramilitary personnel searched the region; 37 suspects were reported detained in the immediate aftermath. | The remoteness of Diamer complicated communications and the investigation. |
| Expedition suspension | Pakistan initially suspended Nanga Parbat climbing activity after the attack. | The security incident immediately became an expedition-policy issue, not only a criminal case. |
| International response | Embassies, climbing federations and the UIAA mourned the victims and condemned the attack. | The event affected confidence in Pakistan climbing far beyond Nanga Parbat. |
For Pakistan Mountaineering, 2013 Created a New Category of Risk
Climbers had always accepted avalanche, weather, altitude and technical exposure on Nanga Parbat. The attack forced expedition teams to consider security systems at base camp and on the approach as a separate planning problem.
The Legal Aftermath Continued for Years
The investigation produced repeated arrests, contested early reports and later convictions. Because several cases moved through different courts and some suspects escaped or remained at large, the cleanest way to summarize the record is by dated milestones rather than implying one simple final case outcome.
Mass search operations began
Authorities detained dozens of suspects in Diamer while trying to identify the attackers and support network.
Three security officials were killed in Chilas
An army colonel, an army captain and the Diamer senior superintendent of police were killed in an ambush while the region was under intense security pressure. Later police reporting linked suspects in the Nanga Parbat case to the killing of investigators.
Arrests, escapes and continuing searches
Police announced multiple arrests over the following months. One prime suspect later escaped during the 2015 Gilgit jail break; another suspect was killed in the escape attempt.
A military-court death sentence was confirmed
Pakistan’s army chief confirmed the death sentence of Irfanullah, whom military authorities said had been involved in killing the ten foreign climbers near Nanga Parbat Base Camp.
Further anti-terrorism-court sentences
Dawn reported a 35-year sentence for an absconding man described by the court as the mastermind and 26-year sentences for two other defendants. Contemporary reporting still described other suspects as at large.
Why the investigation record can look inconsistent
Different 2013–2016 reports used different suspect counts and sometimes different descriptions of who planned, carried out or supported the attack. This page does not collapse those separate claims into a single definitive perpetrator list.
The Attack Damaged Pakistan’s Climbing & Trekking Economy
The shock did not stay at Nanga Parbat. International teams reconsidered Pakistan trips, expedition traffic fell, and communities whose incomes depended on adventure tourism absorbed the economic consequences.
Immediate expedition cancellations
Teams on Nanga Parbat abandoned or interrupted expeditions and other climbers reconsidered Pakistan itineraries.
The psychological effect spread across the Karakoram and western Himalaya.Expedition numbers fell
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation sources told The Express Tribune that adventure-expedition traffic had declined roughly 20–30 percent after the attack.
This was an industry estimate, not a complete national tourism census.Climbing returned
International mountaineering continued in Pakistan in subsequent seasons, including on Nanga Parbat, but expedition security became a more visible part of trip planning.
The attack was a turning point, not the end of Pakistan mountaineering.
Nanga Parbat’s Natural Danger and the 2013 Attack Are Two Different Histories
The mountain’s death-rate record is built from avalanche, storms, falls, altitude illness and other climbing hazards. The eleven people killed at base camp in 2013 belong in the historical record of the mountain—but not in a denominator intended to measure climbing hazard.
Should the 2013 Killings Count in the Nanga Parbat Death Rate?
No—not when the metric is meant to measure mountaineering risk. The victims were members of the expedition community, and the event belongs in Nanga Parbat history, but the cause was deliberate violence at base camp rather than climbing exposure.
| Event type | Examples | Belongs in climbing-hazard death-rate analysis? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain hazard | Avalanche, serac, fall, storm, altitude illness | Yes | These outcomes arise directly from mountaineering exposure and are what a mountain-risk denominator is trying to describe. |
| Expedition medical event | Illness or physiological collapse during the climb | Usually, if the dataset’s inclusion rules say so | The denominator and source definition must be stated. |
| 2013 base-camp attack | Deliberate killing of expedition members and staff | No for climbing-hazard rate | It is a security event, not a route, altitude or mountain-hazard outcome. |
Do Not Use a 2013 Attack as a 2026 Travel Advisory
The event remains historically important, but a current expedition decision should use current government advice, a reputable Pakistan operator and current local security arrangements—not a 13-year-old headline by itself.
As of September 2026, the U.S. State Department rates Pakistan Level 3: Reconsider Travel because of armed conflict, terrorism, crime and kidnapping, with higher-risk areas identified separately. The UK FCDO says Gilgit-Baltistan contains remote areas that are difficult to police, advises foreign nationals to register with local authorities, and advises against travel on part of the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas.
Travel-advisory status can change quickly.
Check the advisory issued by your own government and the current route/security plan from your licensed operator immediately before booking and again before departure.
Direct Answers to the Main Questions
The event is sometimes described differently in early news reports. These answers use later mountaineering records and cross-checked contemporary reporting where possible.
How many people were killed in the 2013 Nanga Parbat base camp attack?
Eleven people were killed: ten foreign mountaineers and Pakistani expedition cook Ali Hussain. Early reports sometimes called the Pakistani victim a guide, but later mountaineering records identify him as a cook.
When did the Nanga Parbat attack happen?
The attackers entered Diamir-side base camp late on June 22, 2013, and the killings unfolded overnight into June 23. That is why sources use both June 22 and June 23 when dating the event.
Where did the attack happen?
It happened at the expedition base-camp area below Nanga Parbat’s Diamir Face in Diamer District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It was not at Fairy Meadows and not on the Rupal Face.
Who claimed responsibility for the Nanga Parbat attack?
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan publicly claimed responsibility. Its spokesman said a newly named faction, reported as Junud or Jundul Hafsa, carried out the attack in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that had killed senior TTP commander Waliur Rehman.
Did anyone survive the base camp attack?
Yes. Chinese mountaineer Zhang Jingchuan escaped and later gave eyewitness accounts to international media. Many other expedition members were also alive because they were away from base camp, including climbers higher on the mountain.
Were the 2013 victims killed while climbing Nanga Parbat?
No. They were attacked at base camp. Their deaths belong in the history of Nanga Parbat and Pakistan mountaineering, but they should not be counted as avalanche, fall, altitude or route-related climbing fatalities when calculating mountain-hazard death rates.
What happened to the attackers?
Pakistani authorities carried out repeated operations and made multiple arrests. Court proceedings continued for years. In 2016 a military-court death sentence was confirmed for Irfanullah for involvement in the attack, and other defendants received lengthy sentences in separate anti-terrorism proceedings. Contemporary reports still described some suspects as at large.
Is Nanga Parbat safe to climb now?
A historical article cannot answer that by itself. Current security conditions must be checked through up-to-date government travel advisories, licensed expedition operators and local authorities. As of September 2026, several governments continue to advise heightened caution or reconsideration of travel to Pakistan and identify additional restrictions or risks for particular regions and road corridors.
Primary Mountaineering and Contemporary Reporting
The victim list and core sequence are cross-checked against the UIAA / Alpine Club of Pakistan statement, contemporary international reporting and later Pakistani court reporting.
Historical facts and current advisory links reviewed September 21, 2026. This article is historical reporting, not an assessment of the intent or beliefs of any current local community.
Eleven Lives Were Lost at Nanga Parbat—but Not to Nanga Parbat.
The 2013 base-camp attack belongs in the history of the mountain because it changed expeditions, security planning and Pakistan’s climbing community. It should be remembered on its own terms: as an attack on mountaineers and expedition staff, not as another statistic in the mountain’s already severe climbing-fatality record.
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Health, altitude, and nutrition content is reviewed by Taylor Ludlow (Registered Nurse) and Brigg Hoopes (Nutritionist).
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