MANSEHRA: An Irish mountaineer has gone missing while descending the over 13,500-foot-high Musa Da Mussala peak in Siran Valley amid rough weather.

“Two foreign mountaineers had gone to summit Musa Da Mussala peak on Friday, and one of them has gone missing while descending,” said SP Central Shahnawaz Khan, who rushed to Siran Valley, along with five teams, to conduct the search operation.

Talking to reporters, he said the mountaineer, Alexander, along with a British national, Alun David Cooper Cledwyn, had gone to Siran Valley to summit Musa Da Mussala on Friday without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the police and other relevant departments.

Mr Khan, who has been leading the search operation being conducted jointly by his department, other law-enforcement agencies and Rescue 1122, said that both mountaineers had arrived at a resort in Mandachucha in Siran Valley after visiting Gilgit-Baltistan.

“Both spent Friday night at the same resort and undertook their adventurous journey the next morning and summited Musa Da Mussala within due course of time,” Mr Khan said.

He said that Mr Cledwyn and Mr Alexander decided to make their descent more adventurous amid rainy weather and took separate walking tracks to reach the resort in Mandachucha.

“The British mountaineer descended successfully and reached the resort on Sunday, but his companion is still missing,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2026