Background to tensions in Gilgit-Baltistan

For a good backgrounder - admittedly from an Indian perspective - on the tense situation in Gilgit-Baltistan following the killing of 18 Shia pilgrims last week take a look at Ambreen Agha's article written for South Asia Terrorism Portal:

"Despite a fitful focus on the more extreme developments in the region, Gilgit-Baltistan has largely been ignored by the international media and community, substantially as a result of its remoteness and intentional isolation by Islamabad. The denial of basic rights is a quotidian reality in the region, with periodic escalation of orchestrated excesses by state agencies or Islamist extremist proxies. Despite clear directives from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the ambiguity of the region’s constitutional status – and hence the denial of legal and constitutional protection to the population – persists."