{"id":1898,"date":"2026-09-29T22:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T17:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=1898"},"modified":"2026-09-29T22:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T17:03:54","slug":"three-pakistanis-among-five-killed-in-operation-on-hijacked-ship-off-somalia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=1898","title":{"rendered":"Three Pakistanis among five killed in operation on hijacked ship off Somalia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Three Pakistani sailors were among five crew members killed during an operation by Somali security forces against pirates aboard the hijacked oil tanker Honour 25<\/em> off Somalia, according to surviving crew members.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pakistani victims were identified as second officer Kashif Umar, third engineer Mahmood Ansari and oiler Rafiullah Khan. An Indian crew member identified as Tanveer and the vessel\u2019s Myanmar chief engineer were also killed, according to the reports.<\/p>\n

Four other crew members were injured in the incident. They include second engineer Hussain Yousuf, fourth engineer Usman, Aqeel and Amin, along with an Indonesian crew member, according to details shared by survivors.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Crew caught in crossfire<\/h3>\n

The Indonesian captain reportedly said that the five crew members were killed during the security operation. Survivors said pirates opened fire as the operation unfolded.<\/p>\n

The tanker\u2019s steering system was also damaged during the incident, according to Hussain Yousuf. He said the vessel was being towed by another ship.<\/p>\n

The tanker had been carrying 17 crew members when it was hijacked in April, including 10 Pakistanis. The crew also included Indonesian, Indian, Sri Lankan and Myanmar nationals.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Tanker hijacked in April<\/h3>\n

Honour 25<\/em>, a Palau-flagged oil tanker, was seized by armed Somali pirates on April 21, about 30 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia\u2019s semi-autonomous Puntland region. The vessel was later anchored off the Puntland coast.<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Office had said in June that its embassy in Djibouti, which is accredited to Somalia, was coordinating with Somali authorities and the ship\u2019s owner to secure the release of the Pakistani hostages.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Office said at the time that Pakistani and Somali officials were maintaining contact and that Islamabad was seeking the hostages\u2019 safe release and repatriation.<\/p>\n

The sailors remained in captivity for more than five months. Their families had repeatedly protested in Karachi, demanding government action for their release. Earlier this month, relatives staged a sit-in outside the Foreign Office\u2019s liaison office on Sharea Faisal.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Families seek repatriation of bodies<\/h3>\n

Relatives of the Pakistani sailors said they had not received direct information from the government about the deaths and learned about the incident from other crew members.<\/p>\n

The families have urged the government to immediately secure the bodies of the deceased Pakistanis and bring them back to the country. They also called for urgent efforts to ensure the safety and repatriation of the surviving crew members.<\/p>\n

The latest incident comes amid a resurgence in Somali piracy.<\/p>\n

A recent report by The Guardian<\/em> said piracy attacks off Somalia had increased sharply in 2026, with multiple vessels hijacked since April.<\/p>\n

A day earlier, reports said families of the 10 Pakistani sailors had lost contact with the crew and were increasingly concerned about their safety.<\/p>\n

The crew had also reportedly warned through an Indonesian captain that pirates had threatened to kill them if security forces attempted an operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Pakistani sailors were among five crew members killed during an operation by Somali security forces against pirates aboard the hijacked oil tanker Honour 25 off Somalia, according to surviving crew members. The Pakistani victims were identified as second officer Kashif Umar, third engineer Mahmood Ansari and oiler Rafiullah Khan. An Indian crew member identified as Tanveer and the vessel\u2019s Myanmar chief engineer were also killed, according to the reports. Four other crew members were injured in the incident. They include second engineer Hussain Yousuf, fourth engineer Usman, Aqeel and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1898\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}