MOGADISHU, SOMALIA: Three Pakistani nationals were among five crew members killed after Somali pirates opened fire during an operation to rescue the hijacked ship MT Honour 25, authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region said on Tuesday.
The Palau-flagged petroleum products ship was seized by pirates on April 21, about 30 nautical miles off the Puntland coast, with 17 crew members aboard, including 10 Pakistani nationals.
Puntland’s Information Ministry said the rescue operation successfully freed the ship and that 16 pirates were captured. It said the pirates killed five crew members before the security forces completed the operation.
Five Killed as Puntland Forces Retake Hijacked Tanker Honour 25 Off Somalia — Three Pakistanis Among the Dead
Puntland Maritime Police Force has taken control of the Palau-flagged oil tanker MT Honour 25 (also reported as Honor 25 / Honour 25) after an operation off the Bandar…
— Muhammad Fahad (@myrules_fahad) September 29, 2026
“Before the operation began, the pirates on board the ship killed five of the crew,” the ministry said in a statement. The victims included three Pakistanis, one Myanmar national and one Indian national.
Four other crew members were injured, including three Pakistanis and one Indian, according to the Puntland authorities.
The Ansar Burney Trust separately confirmed the deaths and said the three Pakistani victims were among those killed in the incident. The organisation also called for the injured crew members to be safely returned and for the bodies of those killed to be handed over to their families.
Among the Pakistani victims was second officer Kashif Umar, a resident of Karachi’s Buffer Zone who had worked in the merchant navy for about 25 years.
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Umar’s family and relatives began receiving visitors offering condolences after news of his death emerged. According to the Ansar Burney Trust, Umar had said during his last conversation that food, drinking water and other essential supplies aboard the ship were running out.
The ship had remained in pirate hands for more than five months, raising growing concerns over the safety and wellbeing of its multinational crew.
The seizure had also prompted concern in Pakistan. Last month, Pakistan sought the intervention of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to help secure the release and safe return of the 10 Pakistani sailors aboard the ship.
Puntland state television reported that the pirates involved in the hijacking had been detained and would be brought before a court. The rescue came about a week after another Puntland counter-piracy operation in which regional maritime forces said they had freed the Sibu 1, a ship seized by Somali pirates in August.
The latest incident comes amid a resurgence of piracy off Somalia’s coast, renewing concerns over maritime security in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean.
A previous wave of Somali piracy, which peaked between 2008 and 2014, disrupted one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, caused billions of dollars in economic losses and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments.
Experts have linked the recent increase in piracy partly to changing regional conditions, including the effects of the Iran war and higher oil prices, which can make petroleum ships more attractive targets.
