Five crew members of an oil tanker were killed by pirates off the coast of Somalia before local security forces rescued the remaining crew, a senior regional official told BBC.
Puntland Deputy Information Minister Bile Qabowsade said the deaths occurred before regional forces boarded the MT Hoarner 25. The victims were three Pakistani nationals, one Indian and one Myanmar national, while three Pakistanis and an Indian were injured.
The 18,500‑barrel tanker, bound for Mogadishu, was hijacked in April by six armed men. Sixteen suspected pirates were later arrested, with others still at large.
Qabowsade rejected suggestions that Puntland forces had helped pirates escape. Details on how the crew were killed or how the seizure occurred remain unclear.
The seized tanker had anchored between the fishing towns of Xaafun and Bander Beyla. When the vessel was hijacked, it carried 17 crew members: 10 Pakistanis, four Indonesians, one Indian, one Sri Lankan and one Myanmar national.
Piracy off Somalia’s coast fell sharply after 2011 due to international naval operations, but attacks and hijackings have surged again in recent years.
