Karakoram Highway | Pakistan

GILGIT / LAHORE: Hun­dreds of travellers and tourists were stranded in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Wendesday after a glacial lake outburst flood (Glof) swept away part of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), while authorities in Punjab ordered communities along the Sutlej River to evacuate amid forecasts of heavy monsoon rains and floods. In Gulmit, Gojal, Hunza, a powerful torrent surged through the Juchar nullah on Tuesday evening, triggered by accelerated glacier melt. The floodwaters destroyed a women-owned restaurant, a government tourist facilitation centre, orchards, farmland, and critical infrastructure including electricity and internet poles, according to Rescue 1122 officials. A bridge and sections of the KKH were swept away, leaving no alternative route for locals and tourists travelling to and from China via the Khunjerab Pass. “Never experienced such intensity of floods in the nullah,” Saeed Jan, a local resident, told Dawn. The destruction of a fibre optic line has left the area without mobile and interne...

Severe flooding in the Hunza River has caused widespread destruction in the Gulmit area of Gojal, blocking the Karakoram Highway (KKH) for all vehicular traffic since Tuesday.

• Protesters demand tax exemption for GB residents and clearance of 280 stuck consignments • Federal committee, including GB leadership, meets today to discuss resolution GILGIT: The ongoing sit-in on Karakoram Highway (KKH) has disrupted travel and trade between Pakistan and China via Khunjerab Pass for the 22nd consecutive day on Sunday as deadlock between government and protesters persisted. The federal committee constituted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will meet on Monday (today) to make recommendations for resolving the issue. GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan, GB Chief Secretary Abrar Ahmed Mirza, PPP President Amjad Hussain Advocate, former GB chief minister and PML-N President Hafeezur Rehman have also been included in the committee. Trade and travel between Pakistan and China, as well as business activities at the Sost Dry Port, have remained shut for the past 22 days. The protest sit-in, called by the Tajir Ittehad Action Committee — backed by trade organisations, government and opposition part...

GILGIT: Local traders involved in Pakistan-China trade via Khunjerab Pass launched an indefinite protest sit-in on Friday, blocking the Karakoram Highway (KKH) at Pissan in Nagar, stranding thousands of local and international travellers on both sides of the route. The protest call was issued by the Pak-China Traders Action Committee, an alliance comprising the Gilgit-Baltistan Importers and Exporters Association, the Nagar Chamber of Commerce, and small trade associations from Nagar, Hunza, and Gilgit. Protesters chanted slogans against Pakistan Customs and the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government. According to the protesters, the primary grievance is the suspension of customs clearance for imported consignments from China at Sost Dry Port for the last six months, effectively halting Pak-China trade. According to traders, 257 consignments imported from China have been stuck at Sost Dry port since December last year, causing “billions of rupees losses” from expired items, daily port charges, and other expenses. T...