Islamabad - Military helicopters searched Thursday for a British mountaineer who went missing in northern Pakistan almost two weeks ago, but his family said they had little hope that he is still alive.

Ben Cheek, 28, from West Didsbury, Manchester, began his solo attempt on the 6,100-metre Whitehorn peak in the Shimshal Valley of the Hunza region on July 11 after taking part in a four-member failed expedition to summit a more than 7,620-metre peak in the same region. He failed to return as scheduled four days later.

The helicopter search, which started early last week, has been hampered by poor weather and was called off Monday, only to resume Thursday on the insistence of Cheek's family.

"There have been two helicopter flights today but no signs of him," Cheek's uncle, Andrew Thorne, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone from Hunza, where he had arrived from Britain to join the search.

"To be quite honest, we do not have any hope for him," Thorne said. "Too much time has been lost."

Mohammed Irfan - a spokesman for Askari Aviation, which is conducting the search, said the main objective of the operation was to locate and retrieve the body if possible.

Two Italian climbers stranded on another mountain in Pakistan were plucked from the 8,170-metre Nanga Parbat July 24 and flown to safety by Pakistani Army helicopters. (dpa)