Somali pirates kill three Pakistanis during rescue operation
A screengrab of a video shows crew members of an Indonesia-flagged vessel held hostage by Somali pirates.
Three Pakistani sailors were among five crew members killed after Somali pirates opened indiscriminate fire on the abducted crew of the Honour 25 while fleeing the vessel, while four sailors were injured, according to survivors and the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust.
Three of the injured sailors are also reportedly Pakistani nationals.
Pakistani sailors Hussain Yousuf and Imran Ali, who survived the attack, contacted the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust office in Karachi using the ship captain’s mobile phone and provided details of the incident.
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According to the surviving crew members, the governments of Somalia and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia launched a joint operation on Tuesday to free the hostages from the pirates. An exchange of fire took place between Somali security forces and the pirates during the operation.
The Pakistani crew members said that when the pirates came under pressure and began retreating, they opened indiscriminate fire on the abducted crew members before fleeing the vessel.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Ansar Burney Trust Director Advocate Qurat-ul-Ain said the location where the crew members were killed and injured was a considerable distance from the shore.
She said the pirates also damaged the steering system of the Honour 25 while fleeing, rendering the vessel inoperable. The ship is now being towed to the shore by a Somali naval vessel, a process that is expected to take at least two days.
According to Qurat-ul-Ain, the naval vessel towing the Honour 25 is the same vessel that was used to launch the attack against the pirates.
She added that the government of Pakistan and the Ministry of Human Rights had been informed about the entire incident.
Qurat-ul-Ain identified the Pakistani crew members killed in the attack as Second Officer Kashif Umar, Third Engineer Mahmood Ansari and Boiler Rafiullah. An Indian crew member, Tanveer, and the chief engineer from Myanmar were also among those killed.
The injured crew members were identified as Usman, Aqeel, Ameen and Vicky from Indonesia.
Yasir Khan, Hussain Yousuf, Imran Ali and Yaseen remained safe.
All the Pakistani crew members who were killed or injured are from different areas of Karachi. Their families had spent months seeking the safe release of their loved ones, staging peaceful protests and repeatedly approaching government authorities.
The oil tanker Honour 25, sailing under the Somali flag from Oman to Somalia, was hijacked by pirates on April 21. There were 17 crew members aboard, 10 of whom were Pakistani nationals. The families of the Pakistani hostages have continuously appealed to the government for the safe release of their loved ones.
During their captivity, the pirates initially demanded a ransom of $3 million for their release. The demand was later reduced to $1.9 million and subsequently to $1 million.
The Gulf of Aden and Somalia coasts have seen a resurgence in piracy since April, according to figures from the International Maritime Organisation, with at least 15 attacks this year, the highest since 2013.