Militants block road linking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan; demand release of accomplices

Sources said the militants were demanding the release of their accomplices, including those involved in the gruesome murder of foreigners in the Nanga Parbat area and other terrorist incidents in Diamer Islamabad: Militants demanding the release of their jailed accomplices set up blockades on one of the major arteries linking Pakistan’s restive provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan, leaving a senior minister and several tourists stranded, a media report said on Saturday. A voice clip shared on social media on Friday purportedly features Senior GB Minister Abaidullah Baig as saying that he was on his way from Islamabad to Gilgit when militants blocked the road to press authorities for the release of their accomplices from jail. Sources said the militants were demanding the release of their accomplices, including those involved in the gruesome murder of foreigners in the Nanga Parbat area and other terrorist incidents in Diamer. He said increasing terrorist activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas were claiming the lives of army personnel and other law enforcement agencies for the last couple of months.