Three Pakistani sailors are among five crew members killed after a tanker hijacked by pirates off Somalia was recovered by Puntland security forces following more than five months in captivity.
The Palau-flagged MT Honour 25 was recovered on Tuesday in the Dharin Baar area of Bandar Beyla district in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of northeastern Somalia. The tanker was hijacked on 21 April with 17 crew members on board, including 10 Pakistanis.
The Puntland Maritime Police Force said five crew members were killed by the pirates before its operation to retake the tanker began. Three were Pakistani, while the other two were from India and Myanmar. Four crew members were also injured, including three Pakistanis. The force said 16 suspected pirates were apprehended.
The three Pakistani sailors were identified by the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust as Second Officer Kashif Umar, Third Engineer Mahmood Ansari and Boiler Rafiullah. All three were from Karachi.
The trust said the information came from surviving Pakistani crew members Hussain Yousuf and Imran Ali, who contacted its Karachi office using the captain’s mobile phone.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths remain disputed.
Puntland authorities said the five sailors were killed before security forces began their operation.
The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust gave a different account. It said the surviving crew members reported that Somali forces and the pirates exchanged fire during the rescue, and that the pirates opened fire on the hostages while retreating from the vessel. The trust also said the pirates damaged the tanker’s steering system while fleeing.
The two accounts have not been independently reconciled.
The Pakistani sailors spent more than five months in captivity after the tanker was hijacked off Puntland.
Their families repeatedly protested to demand their release and sought help from Pakistani authorities, foreign governments, the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization.
In September, relatives held a sit-in outside a Foreign Affairs Liaison Office in Karachi. Some family members were detained by police during the protest. The families alleged that they were mistreated, while police disputed aspects of their account.
The families’ campaign continued alongside diplomatic contacts between Pakistani and Somali officials, including meetings in Mogadishu in June.
The crew had earlier reported shortages of food, clean drinking water and medicine during captivity. The pirates initially demanded a $3 million ransom before later reducing it to $1 million.
The recovery of the tanker comes as piracy has again become a concern along the Somali coast and surrounding waters.
The International Maritime Organization said in July that 44 seafarers were being held aboard three hijacked vessels, including the MT Honour 25. It also reported 24 attempted and actual piracy and armed robbery incidents in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region over a three-month period.
The MT Honour 25 is now under Puntland government control. The incident underscores the renewed risks facing commercial shipping off Somalia.
Kazakhstan says the North Aral Sea’s water volume has risen by 24 per cent since 2022, reaching 23.4 billion cubic metres. The figures were u...
Emissions cuts and climate finance took centre stage on the second day of COP31 in Türkiye on Tuesday, as developing nations pushed for greate...
Iran is stepping up military training for civilian volunteers, opening a new camp for women in Tehran amid U.S. threats of ground operations. The m...
The gunman who allegedly killed six people in Poland’s unprecedented mass shooting in central Kraków on Saturday has died in hospital, police said early Monday. The attacker had demonstrated advanced military-style marksmanship skills, according to a spokesperson for the shooting club he attended.
Monday marks the second of two days of national mourning in Poland as police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Kraków.
Russia and Ukraine are set to return to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for a fourth round of U.S.-brokered peace talks, with European participation, security guarantees and territorial disputes expected to shape the negotiations.
Nvidia has launched an independent investigation into whether its chief executive, Jensen Huang, was targeted in a foreign intelligence operation, following allegations that a businesswoman with whom he had a relationship passed information to Beijing.
At least 17 people have been reported killed in an explosion at a steel plant in western Türkiye, after a crane collapsed during maintenance work. The disaster has prompted a criminal investigation into what went wrong at the industrial facility.
Emissions cuts and climate finance took centre stage on the second day of COP31 in Türkiye on Tuesday, as developing nations pushed for greater financial support from wealthier countries.
Iran is stepping up military training for civilian volunteers, opening a new camp for women in Tehran amid U.S. threats of ground operations. The move follows Israeli and U.S. air strikes on Iran in 2025 and 2026.
German defence firm Helsing is preparing to unveil new AI targeting software amid growing European concerns over reliance on U.S. technology, while Britain has pledged $121 million to strengthen surveillance of Russian submarines.
Canada has reinstated sanctions on 11 Iranian entities over concerns about their alleged links to the country's nuclear programme, ballistic missile development and financial networks supporting its strategic activities.
An alleged affair between Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and a Chinese businesswoman suspected of spying for Beijing helped channel at least $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms, The Information reported on Tuesday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment