Somali pirates killed five oil tanker crew members “MT Honor 25”, before Puntland’s forces released the ship, the authorities of the semi-autonomous state of northern Somalia said today.
© Lusa
30/09/2026
by
Lusa
Sthe group of pirates who held the ship by force killed five crew members on Tuesday before the start of the government operation.
The same force added that the murdered crewmen were citizens of Pakistan, Myanmar (former Burma) and India and that four other crewmen were injured, including three Pakistanis and one Indian.
During the operation, the Maritime Police detained 16 members of the pirate group.
Other members of the group fled to the coast, the regional security force reported, while continuing operations to locate the kidnappers.
On the other hand, the vessel “MT Eureka”, captured in May, after the pirates had stranded the vessel before abandoning it and landing the crew, was released.
Piracy off the Somali coast has decreased significantly over the last decade thanks to international patrols and improved security measures.
However, the waters of the Horn of Africa — patrolled in the past by ships from the United States, the European Union and other countries on security missions — now face the resurgence of Somali piracy.
In early September, the Somali government condemned the resurgence of the phenomenon and said it will bring the issue to the United Nations Security Council.