KARACHI: Pakistan is working to bring home the dead and injured crew of the MT Honour 25 after Puntland forces recovered the hijacked oil tanker, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
The three slain Pakistanis were identified as Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmed Ansari. Three of the four injured crew members were also Pakistani nationals, the Foreign Office said.
“The injured have been taken to a nearby hospital and are receiving medical care,” it said, adding that the surviving crew members had been brought safely ashore at Bandar Beyla in Puntland.
Pakistani officials from the embassy in Djibouti are proceeding to Bandar Beyla to assist the crew. Islamabad said it remained in contact with Somali authorities and other stakeholders through its missions.
“Every possible effort is being made to ensure proper medical care for the injured, facilitate the transportation of the mortal remains of the deceased and ensure the safe return of the surviving Pakistani crew members,” the statement read.
The MT Honour 25 was hijacked by Somali pirates in April. Months passed without a breakthrough in negotiations or payment of the reported ransom demand. The families had appealed to foreign governments, the United Nations and the International Maritime Organisation for coordinated efforts to secure the crew’s release.
MT Honour 25: Families seek repatriation, question operation
Families of the sailors urged the government to urgently repatriate the bodies of those killed and bring the injured crew home. All three men who lost their lives belonged to Karachi.
Ayesha Ameen, wife of Ameen Bin Shams, a fitter on the tanker who was among the injured, said the families had repeatedly sought government help for the hostages’ release but had never asked for a security operation that could put lives at further risk.
“We had also been asking to bring our loved ones back home in one piece,” she said.
“The government had asked us to not hold it responsible for any untoward incident during any security operation, but we had refused to do that because we did not want any such operation to take place to put the lives of our loved ones at any further risk,” she said. “Now who is responsible for what happened? Three of our men are dead and others are injured. My husband is among the injured. But that is all that we know.”
Izhar Kashif, son of Second Officer Syed Kashif Umer, said no government representative had contacted him after his father’s death. “I only got a message from some shipping agency to come to Somalia or Dubai to identify my father among the dead,” he said. “I don’t care about the rules or regulations. Just get him back home before his body decomposes.”
The deceased sailor’s father said relatives arriving to offer condolences were asking about funeral arrangements. “What do I tell them when I don’t know anything myself about where my dead son’s body is now and in what condition?”
Muzamil Ahmed Ansari, son of Third Engineer Mahmood Ahmed Ansari, said he had been informed through a shipping agency that, as next of kin, he would be required to identify his father. “He could not be brought to us alive. At least give us his dead body so we can take care of his burial arrangements here,” he said.
The families said both Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmed Ansari had diabetes and had been without proper medication during captivity.
MT Honour 25: Puntland says five killed
Puntland’s maritime authorities said their naval and ground units carried out a planned operation in the Dharin-Bar area of Bandar Beyla district to recover the vessel. They later announced that the MT Honour 25 had been secured and was under government control, while suspected pirates had been apprehended and operations were continuing to locate others.
“Before the operation began, the pirates on board the ship killed five of the crew. Among those killed were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India,” Puntland’s information ministry said. Four other crew members, three Pakistanis and one Indian national, were injured.
Advocate Quratulain of the Ansar Burney Trust gave a separate account, saying the pirates had brought the hostages onto the deck when they realised Puntland forces were approaching. “They tied their hands and warned to kill them if the police force came anywhere near them without paying them the ransom,” she said, adding that the ransom demand had by then been reduced from an initial $3 million to $1 million.
She said the pirates opened fire on the hostages as the security forces proceeded with the operation, killing three Pakistanis, one Indian and one Myanmar national.
Shaheen Burney, vice chairperson of the Ansar Burney Trust, said the vessel carrying the injured and the bodies had reached Bandar Beyla, where the injured were being treated and the bodies kept in cold storage. She said there was a communication gap because Pakistan did not recognise Puntland.
What happened to the MT Honour 25?
Somali pirates hijacked the oil tanker in April. After months without a negotiated release, Puntland’s naval and ground units carried out a planned operation in the Dharin-Bar area of Bandar Beyla district and recovered the vessel. Five crew members were killed before the operation began.
MT Honour 25: Who were the Pakistani victims?
The three Pakistanis killed were Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmed Ansari, all from Karachi. Three more Pakistanis were among the injured crew members.
What is the government doing for the families?
The Foreign Office says officials from the Pakistani embassy in Djibouti are heading to Bandar Beyla to assist the crew, and that Islamabad is working on medical care, the return of the bodies and the repatriation of survivors.
Why is repatriation complicated?
Pakistan does not recognise Puntland, which has created a communication gap in coordinating the recovery and return of the crew, according to the Ansar Burney Trust.
