Somali pirates initiate direct contact with families of abducted Pakistani crew members

KARACHI:

Somali pirates have begun contacting directly the families of the ten Pakistani crew members who were kidnapped, it emerged on Monday.

The Somali pirates have created a WhatsApp group called “Pakistani Crew Families”. In this group, the pirates have added a family member of each of the ten abducted Pakistanis.

A video was shared in the WhatsApp group showing all 10 Pakistani hostages. In the video, the prisoners can be seen together with two bottles of murky water, which they are allegedly forced to drink on board the ship

The pirates seized and formatted all the crew members’ cell phones except the captain’s phone, which remains in their possession. The WhatsApp group was created using this device. The pirates also created a TikTok account using the identity of the MT Honor 25 vessel, with a group photo of the Pakistani hostages as the profile picture.

Read more: The hostage crew’s video emerges after 26 days in Somali pirate captivity

On Eid, the pirates allowed each hostage to speak to his family. Ayesha, wife of crew member Amin, said that during a brief conversation, Amin told her that the ship’s main engine had broken and that the oil tanker was now stranded in one place. He further stated that in the past week, other pirate groups had twice attempted to seize their vessel, but the pirates holding them captive successfully repelled these attacks. Shots were exchanged during these incidents and bullets struck the ship; however, all the hostages remained unharmed.

In a video message, hostage Yasir Khan appealed to the prime minister, president and army chief to take concrete steps to secure their release. He said it was becoming increasingly difficult for the Pakistani crew to survive in the current conditions as lack of food and contaminated drinking water caused diseases to spread. The oil tanker has now been hijacked for 42 days.

Read also: Relative of Somali hostage seeks government action

Pakistani authorities claim that diplomatic efforts are underway to secure the release of the Pakistani crew members on board the ship. However, both the hostages and the pirates have denied these government claims in videos released earlier.

Qurrat-ul-Ain Advocate, director of the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust, said the group had contacted both the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan regarding the release of the hostages. According to her, the leaders of both parties assured them that they would raise the issue for discussion during the next sessions of the Senate and the House.