ABBOTTABAD: Paraglider and renowned diver Asif Mahmood died in a paragliding accident in Chitral, his family confirmed Friday.
According to family members, Mahmood was injured in an accident while paragliding in Buni, Chitral, on Thursday.
Police sources said the accident occurred in a difficult mountainous area amid bad weather. A search operation for Mahmood’s body continued from Thursday, and rescuers recovered it on Friday.
Mahmood was a resident of Suraj Gali in Khanpur, according to police.
Earlier, more than 20 civilians were killed and dozens injured in a rare and deadly motorised paraglider assault by the Myanmar military on Monday night, according to Amnesty International and independent media outlets.
The attacks struck during a candlelight vigil held by local residents to mark a Buddhist festival and call for the release of political prisoners. According to reports, the assault came in two waves — first at 8:00 p.m. and again at 11:00 p.m. local time — targeting the village of Chaung-U in the embattled Sagaing Region.
Eyewitnesses and rights groups say the Myanmar military used motorised paragliders to drop munitions directly on civilians gathered in peaceful protest. The Irrawaddy, an independent news outlet based in Thailand, reported a death toll between 20 and 32 people, with dozens more injured.The UN Human Rights Office has previously documented the military’s use of this airborne tactic against civilian targets.
“This was a deliberate, calculated assault on civilians exercising their right to peaceful assembly,” said Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher, Montse Ferrer. “The international
