Somali pirates kill 5 sailors; tanker recovered.

Bangla Press Desk: Security forces have rescued an oil tanker held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia. Before the operation, the pirates opened fire on the crew, killing five sailors.
The Ministry of Information of Puntland, an autonomous region of Somalia, announced this information on Tuesday (September 29), local time.
Among those killed by the pirates were three Pakistani nationals, one from Myanmar, and one Indian national.
The tanker, named MT *Honor 25*, sails under the flag of the Oceanian nation of Palau. It was hijacked on April 21, approximately 30 nautical miles off the coast of Puntland. There were 17 crew members on board at the time, ten of whom were Pakistani nationals.
Puntland's Ministry of Information stated that the rescue operation was successful and 16 pirates were detained. In a statement, the ministry said that the pirates on board killed five sailors before the operation began. Four other sailors were injured during the operation; among them were three Pakistanis and one Indian.
Ansar Burney, Director of the Ansar Burney Trust, also confirmed the deaths of the five individuals.
Burney stated that the Ansar Burney Trust had previously alerted the relevant authorities regarding the safety of the crew members on board. He called for the safe repatriation of the injured sailors and the handover of the deceased's bodies to their families.
One of the deceased Pakistani sailors was Kashif Umar, a resident of the Buffer Zone area in Karachi. He had been working in the Merchant Navy for 25 years.
Following the news of Umar's death, relatives and acquaintances visited his home to offer their condolences. The Ansar Burney Trust reported that in his final conversation, Umar had mentioned that supplies of food, drinking water, and other essentials on the ship were running low.
Puntland officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.
Concerns regarding the safety of the sailors had arisen in Pakistan after the tanker was hijacked. Last month, Pakistan sought the intervention of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to safely bring back ten Pakistani sailors who were on board a ship.
This marks the second major anti-piracy operation in Puntland recently. A week ago, during a similar operation, Puntland's maritime police reported recovering a tanker named 'Cibu 1'. That tanker, which was subject to US sanctions, had been hijacked by Somali pirates in August.
Piracy activities off the coast of Somalia have been on the rise again in recent years. This has sparked renewed concerns regarding the safety of shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean.
Previously, piracy by Somali pirates had reached alarming levels between 2008 and 2014, disrupting shipping along one of the world's busiest maritime routes.
The global economy suffered losses amounting to billions of dollars, and hundreds of millions of dollars had to be paid in ransom to the pirates.
Experts attribute the recent surge in piracy to changing regional dynamics, including the impact of the conflict involving Iran and rising oil prices.
According to them, the increase in oil prices could make oil tankers more attractive targets for pirates.
BP/TD