Officials on Sunday said that nine foreign tourists from China, Russia and Ukraine along with a Pakistani guide were killed in a hotel in a remote area of northern Pakistan.

Targeting a hotel in a town in Gilgit-Baltistan that serves as the base camp for mountaineers headed for Nanga Parbat, the attack took place on Saturday night.

The armed men wearing police uniforms targeted a hotel at Fairy Meadows in Gilgit-Baltistan that serves as a base camp for mountaineers headed for Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth highest peak.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Ali Sher said that the armed men barged into a hotel and killed tourists from different countries.

Speaking in parliament, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said three Chinese nationals, one Russian, five Ukrainians and one Pakistani guide were among the dead.

Police cordoned off the area and launched a hunt for the killers.

The Prime Minister strongly condemned the killing of the foreign tourists in Fairy Meadows and said, “such acts of cruelty and inhumanity would not be tolerated and every effort would be made to make Pakistan a safe place for tourists”.

Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah said authorities had sought help from the army, which had provided a helicopter for aerial surveillance of the area where the attack took place.

The attackers were reportedly in the base camp for almost 90 minutes and left the area at midnight.

The attack was the first of its kind in Gilgit-Baltistan and raised serious questions about the safety of scores of tourists, many of them foreigners, who visit the region.