Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un. The places they serve at for this beautiful country!
The Astore valley receives serious snowfall in the winters and by march it has accumulated to serious amounts and then it starts melting in mid-late April. The hazard is such that the army hasn't even bothered to build a paved road from Astore city to Rattu Cantt AHAS (high altitude training school). As you travel down the Astore valley towards Shounter valley the avalanche risk increases exponentially. In the winters they don't let you go any further than Rattu cantt due to the avalanche threat. The Cantt itself is built on a high flat hilltop between two rivers. This allows the avalanches to run down into the valley keeping the Cantt safe ( In 2011, right behind the Cantt and just before the merge with the Tarishing river, an avalanche blocked the Astore river which swelled it up hundreds of feet for the rest of the season.)
My guess is that this was a mountaineering expedition.