4 injured Pakistanis rescued from vessel hijacked in Somalia arrive in Karachi with remains of 3 colleagues
The four Pakistanis who were injured during a security operation to recover a hijacked oil tanker off the coast of Somalia, along with the remains of three others who lost their lives in the episode, arrived in Karachi on Sunday evening. The crew members of MT Honour 25 reached Karachi after departing from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa via Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 694. Sindh Local Government…
Four Pakistani men injured during a security operation to reclaim a hijacked oil tanker off the coast of Somalia, along with the remains of three colleagues who had perished, arrived in Karachi on Sunday evening. The crew members of the MT Honour 25 vessel disembarked in the Pakistani metropolis following a flight from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Ethiopian Airlines ET 694.
A delegation of Pakistani officials, including Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, PPP Senator Waqar Mehdi, and MQM-P MNA Farooq Sattar, greeted the rescued seamen at Jinnah International Airport. Shah expressed deep regret over the loss of life and injuries, assuring the families of the injured that all treatment and care expenses would be covered by the Sindh government, with the wounded being admitted to Aga Khan Hospital.
The four injured Pakistanis—Usman Ghani, Aqeel Khan, Ameen bin Shams, and Yasir Khan—were escorted to the capital by Pakistani ambassadors in Djibouti and Ethiopia, alongside the bodies of Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer, and Mahmood Ahmad Ansari. These individuals were among ten Pakistanis on board the MT Honour 25, which was seized by Somali pirates in April.
The vessel also housed seven Indonesians, an Indian, and a Sri Lankan national. For around five months, negotiations for the hostages' release or the ransom payment, reportedly valued at around $3 million, remained inconclusive, despite growing concerns about the crew's deteriorating health. Since the hijacking, the crew members released numerous emotional videos and audio messages, detailing their dwindling supplies of clean water, food, and medicine.
FO maintained that it was "actively engaged" in securing the sailors' release. Somali maritime police recovered the Palau-flagged oil tanker on September 29, claiming to have apprehended 21 suspected pirates. However, during the operation, pirates killed five crew members, including three Pakistanis, one from Myanmar, and one from India, according to Puntland forces.
A separate account by Advocate Quratulain of the Ansar Burney Trust described how pirates brought the hostages onto the deck upon realizing Puntland forces were nearing, tied their hands, and threatened to kill them if the police approached without compensating the ransom. The ransom demand had already been reduced from $3 million to $1 million.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a relief package worth Rs12.5 million for the deceased sailors' families.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
