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The BBC's Orla Guerin says it takes more than 18 hours to reach the base camp of Nanga Parbat
Gunmen have killed 10 people, including nine foreign tourists after storming a hotel in far northern Pakistan.
The nationalities of the victims have not been fully confirmed, although they include a number of Ukrainians and Chinese. One Pakistani also died.
The assault happened at the base camp of Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain, in Gilgit-Baltistan.
It is the first such attack on tourists in the region. The Pakistani Taliban has told the BBC it was responsible.
A spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of its second-in-command, Waliur Rehman, who died in a suspected US drone strike in May.
The group said it would continue to target foreigners.
Part of the Himalayan Range, Nanga Parbat, standing at 8,126m (26,660ft), is popular with trekkers and mountaineers, especially during June and July.
Officials in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan say the area where the gunmen struck is extremely remote and there are no roads and no means of transportation other than mules.
They say the attackers must have been well trained and well acclimatised. A lot of planning must have gone into conducting this operation. The area is a vast mountain desert, having approaches from three sides, each requiring 20 hours of walking; in practice two days of trekking.
Sunni Muslim hard-line groups have in the past carried out several attacks in this predominantly Shia region, mostly along the highway by targeting passenger buses, but this is the first time they have trekked deep into a remote area to kill foreigners.
The incident is likely to hurt the finances of a cash-strapped Gilgit-Baltistan government which depends heavily on revenue raised from mountain expeditions that arrive each summer from around the world. It is also likely to hit tour operators, guides and local small businesses linked to tourism.
The assault is seen as a significant blow for Pakistan's already struggling tourist industry, the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani reports from Islamabad.
Gilgit-Baltistan forms part of the larger disputed Kashmir region, which has been the subject of conflict between India and Pakistan since both countries declared independence in 1947.
In recent years, the region has suffered a spate of attacks by militants targeting Pakistan's Shia Muslim minority.
Remote areaA senior government official told the BBC that one of the victims may have been a US citizen of Chinese origin.
A Chinese tourist survived the assault.
The trekkers had planned to climb Nanga Parbat in the coming days, the operator said.
Some 40 climbers are currently reported to be on the mountain.
Up to 20 attackers, reportedly dressed in local paramilitary uniforms, stormed the hotel at the base camp in the foothills of Nanga Parbat shortly after midnight.
"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire," Ali Sher, a senior police officer, told Reuters.
The gunmen tied up local Pakistani staff and told them not to attempt to raise the alarm until morning, local official said.
The attackers allegedly took the foreigners' money and passports before shooting them.
The remote area in Diamer district, which can only be reached by foot or on horseback, has been sealed off and a manhunt is under way.
Officials said army choppers had been dispatched to the region to retrieve the bodies.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have condemned the attack.
Mr Sharif, who was re-elected earlier this month, said "such acts of cruelty and inhumanity" would not be tolerated.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Gilgit-Baltistan's police chief and another senior official had been suspended.
Meanwhile Gilgit governor Syed Mehdi Shah is set to hold a meeting with regional law enforcement agencies on Sunday to discuss the security situation in the area, Radio Pakistan reports.
"A lot of tourists come to this area in the summer, and our local people work to earn money from these people," he said.
"This will not only affect our area, but will adversely affect all of Pakistan."
Gilgit-Baltistan is famous for its natural beauty and the main city of Gilgit is seen as a gateway to the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges.
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