Somali pirates killed oil tanker crew before rescue, official tells BBC
Piracy off the Somali coast has increased in recent years after dropping when international naval operations began in 2011.
Somali pirates killed oil tanker crew before rescue, official tells BBC
Security forces from Puntland have increased patrols as pirate attacks off Somalia’s coast rise.
Five crew members aboard an oil tanker seized by pirates off the Somali coast were killed before local security forces recovered the vessel, a senior regional official told the BBC.
Puntland Deputy Information Minister Bile Qabowsade said the five were killed by pirates before regional forces boarded MT Hoarner 25.
He said the dead included three Pakistani nationals, one Indian and one national of Myanmar. Four other crew members were injured, including three Pakistanis and one Indian.
The tanker, carrying about 18,500 barrels of oil bound for Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, was seized in April by six armed men while sailing off the coast of Somalia.
Officials said 16 suspected pirates have been arrested, while others escaped and were being chased.
Qabowsade dismissed claims that Puntland forces, from Somalia’s semi-autonomous region, had helped some of the pirates get away. Authorities have not provided further details on how the five crew members were killed or how the pirates gained control of the vessel.
The hijacked tanker was anchored near the Somali coast between the fishing towns of Xaafun and Bander Beyla.
In April, officials said there were 17 crew members on board when the vessel was hijacked. They included 10 Pakistanis, four Indonesians, one Indian, one Sri Lankan and a Myanmar national.
Piracy off Somalia’s coast dropped sharply after 2011 following international naval operations, but attacks and hijackings have risen again in recent years.