Somali pirates killed five crew members of hijacked oil tanker, officials say | Conflict News

The deaths appear to be the first caused by Somali pirates in more than a decade.

Pirates killed five crew members aboard a Palau-flagged oil tanker off the coast of Somalia before security forces rescued the vessel, Somali authorities say.

The deaths from the MT Honor 25 tanker were announced on Tuesday.

These appear to be the first deaths caused by Somali pirates in more than a decade and come amid a resurgence in Somali piracy that experts attribute in part to the effects of the U.S. and Israel-led war against Iran.

The MT Honor 25, which authorities said was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil, was seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia on April 21.

The information ministry in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, said in a statement that a rescue mission freed the ship and captured 16 suspected pirates.

“Before the operation began, the pirates on board the ship killed five crew members,” the statement said. “Among those killed were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India.”

Four other crew members, three Pakistanis and one Indian, were injured, the statement said.

In an article on X, the Indian embassy in Kenya said it was “deeply saddened” by the killing of the Indian crew member.

“All other Indian sailors on board are reported to be safe, including those from MT Sibu 1 and MT Eureka, who were also recently rescued,” the statement added.

In a social media post, Puntland Maritime Police said the ship was “safe” and under government control. He said efforts were continuing to find others involved in the hijacking.

The rescue follows another operation last week in which maritime police freed the Sibu 1, a U.S.-sanctioned tanker that Somali pirates had hijacked in August.

But 28 of the 41 pirates arrested in the operation later escaped while being transferred to prison, and several Puntland security officials have accused local police of complicity.

At least 15 attacks have been reported off the coast of Somalia since April, according to authorities.

Mohamed Mubarak, head of Puntland’s security coordination office, said in a post on

The MT Asana, hijacked in July, is still near the coast, off the town of Ceel Huur, he said.

A previous wave of piracy, from 2008 to 2014, disrupted one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, costing the global economy billions of dollars and leading to the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in ransoms.