Gilgit-Baltistan | Pakistan

GILGIT: Protests broke out across Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Thursday after police arrested five leaders of the Gilgit-Baltistan Awami Action Committee (ACC), including its chairman, Ehsan Ali Advocate, ahead of a planned Grand Jirga on May 26. Demonstrations were held in Hunza, Gilgit and Skardu, where protesters condemned the arrests and demanded the immediate release of the detained leaders. The ACC said the arrests were aimed at sabotaging the jirga, which was to address issues surrounding the ownership of natural resources in the region. According to officials, police arrested the activists — Ehsan Ali Advocate, Engineer Mahboob Wali, Masoodul Rehman, Asghar Shah and Waheed Hassan — from various places in Gilgit on Wednesday evening. A GB anti-terrorism court on Thursday granted police 14-day physical remand of the accused, who were taken to the Airport Police Station. Authorities have refused to share the First Infor­mation Report (FIR), but a police source told Dawn that the arrests were made under anti-...

A large number of foreign tourists have cancelled their trips to Gilgit-Baltistan due to heightened tensions between Pakistan and India, depriving local tour operators of much-needed earnings, a trade body official said on Thursday. The April 22 attack in India-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed 26 people, mostly tourists, marking one of the deadliest assaults in the region since 2000. New Delhi has implied cross-border links without evidence, while Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership have rejected the accusation and called for a neutral probe. Tensions have since spiked, with Pakistan reinforcing its forces and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi granting “operational freedom” to his military. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said yesterday morning that there was credible evidence of an Indian attack within 36 hours, while Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan wouldn’t strike first, but would respond decisively and strongly in the face of aggression. With tensions running high, Pakis...