ISLAMABAD: All the 24 Pakistanis who were on a tanker attacked by Israel off Yemen are safe, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday.
He wrote on his X account that the tanker and its crew are now out of Yemeni waters.
Besides the 24 Pakistanis, the 27-member crew comprised two Sri Lankans and a Nepali.
The tanker, which was carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), was struck by an Israeli drone at Yemen’s Ras al Eisa port on Sept 17. An LPG tank caught fire after the drone strike. The crew, however, was able to douse the fire before it could cause any damage.
After the drone strike, a number of Houthi fighters boarded the ship and held the crew at gunpoint for `investigations’.
However, they agreed to allow the ship to leave Yemeni waters after the intervention of Interior Secretary Khurram Agha, Ambassador Naveed Bokhari and several other officials based in Saudi Arabia, Mohsin Naqvi said on his X account.
“I thank the officials of our security agencies who worked day and night under extraordinary conditions to secure the release of our citizens when hope was fading,” the minister added.
Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025