Islamabad, Feb 6 (IANS): Pakistan Army launched an aerial search operation on Saturday to locate a missing mountaineer and his team members who are on an expedition to summit K2, the second highest peak of the world.

The missing mountaineer, Ali Sadpara had successfully climbed the 8,611-metre-high peak during the K2 Winter Expedition 2021, a month after their first attempt failed, Geo News said in a report.

The report said that Sadpara and his team had departed for their journey on Wednesday.

Since then, he has since been providing updates on his Twitter account about the expedition.

His last tweet was posted on Saturday morning some time around 8.20 a.m.

Sources have said Sadpara and his team were to reach camp 3 by 2 p.m. on Saturday, but communication with the team has been lost for the last several hours.

K2 is located on the China-Pakistan border between in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and Dafdar Township in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China.

It is the highest point of the Karakoram mountain range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang.

The peak is known as the "Savage Mountain" because of its harsh weather conditions: winds can blow at more than 200 kilometres per hour, and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius.

Unlike Mount Everest, which has been topped by thousands of climbers, K2 is much less travelled.