They were finally freed from months of pirate captivity , but five crew members would never make it home. The rescue of the hijacked MT Honour 25 off Somalia has ended in tragedy after pirates killed five sailors before Puntland security forces retook the vessel on Tuesday.
The Puntland Information Ministry said the victims included three Pakistani nationals, one Indian and one Myanmar national. Four other crew members , three Pakistanis and one Indian ,were wounded.
The Palau flagged petroleum products tanker had been seized by pirates on April 21, about 30 nautical miles off Puntland’s coast, with 17 crew members aboard, including 10 Pakistanis. The crew had spent more than five months in captivity before the vessel was recovered.
Puntland authorities said security forces launched an operation in the Dharin-Bar area of Bandar Beyla District and captured 16 suspected pirates. Other reports said additional suspects were being pursued.
The exact circumstances surrounding the five deaths have not been publicly established. Puntland authorities said the crew members were killed before their forces began the operation, while Pakistani reports citing survivor accounts said the pirates opened fire as security forces moved against the vessel. Those accounts have not been independently verified.
The killings appear to be the first deaths attributed to Somali pirates in more than a decade, adding a deadly dimension to a renewed wave of piracy off Somalia’s coast.
The rescue of Honour 25 also comes just days after Puntland forces recovered another hijacked tanker, Sibu 1, highlighting growing concerns over renewed pirate activity along the waters linking Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean.
