Efforts underway to repatriate remains of 3 Pakistanis killed while recovering hijacked tanker from Somali pirates: PMO
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Saturday said that arrangements were underway to repatriate the remains of three Pakistani sailors, who were killed during an operation earlier this week to recover a hijacked oil tanker off the coast of Somalia. The maritime police force of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland said on Tuesday that it had recovered the MT Honour 25 , a Palau-flagged oil tanker…
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced on Saturday that efforts were underway to repatriate the remains of three Pakistani sailors killed while recovering a hijacked oil tanker from Somali pirates. The sailors, Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer, and Mahmood Ahmed Ansari, died during an operation to retrieve the MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged tanker with 19 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis.
The tanker was recovered by Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland maritime police force. The remains were initially taken to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, awaiting transfer to Karachi. The PMO confirmed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had authorized the repatriation process, with ongoing communication between relevant authorities to expedite the transfer.
The treasurer announced a relief package of Rs12.5 million for the deceased sailors' families, covering free housing and education for their children. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar revealed that four of the 10 Pakistani crew members had been safely retrieved, with their return to Karachi scheduled for the same day.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
