• In fresh video messages, captives aboard Honour 25 beseech govt to engage with their captors ‘before it’s too late’
• FO spokesperson says release process is ‘complex and difficult’
• MQM-P calls for immediate steps to recover Pakistani hostages, says families facing severe distress

KARACHI: More than 100 days after being taken hostage by Somali pirates, crew members on board MT Honour 25 have released another distress message in which they appealed directly to the Pakistani government for their release, Dawn.com reported on Sunday.

The Honour 25 — a Palau-flagged oil tanker carrying 17 to 19 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis — was hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia on April 21. Despite over three months passing, there has been no progress in negotiations or on the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for the recovery of the hostages, despite concerns abounding about their declining health.

In two video messages aired on DawnNewsTV and dated August 7, the Pakistani hostages and foreign nationals can be seen in a state of extreme distress, with most looking sick and weak.

They requested that the Pakistani government engage with the Somali pirates and take steps to release them.

Yasir Khan, a hostage aboard the ship, said that many of the crew members had fallen ill and that they had no access to medicine.

He appealed to the government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry to secure their release “before it is too late” and before they suffered further.

He also appealed to Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman to “please do something for us”.

Hussain Yousuf, another Pakistani hostage, said, “More than a hundred days have passed, and still nothing is known about what is happening to us, or what will happen to us.”

He also requested the prime minister, as well as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, to take action before “very bad news” arrived.

Speaking to Dawn on Sunday, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi expressed his grief and regret that the hostages had not yet been released.

He said that an inter-ministerial process was underway on the issue, involving the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and other relevant agencies, all of which were continuously monitoring the situation.

“The main challenge is that these individuals are being held in an autonomous region of Somalia,” Andrabi said.

“The operational steps required to secure their release are particularly complex and difficult. The process of negotiating with their captors is also a major challenge.”

He noted that the situation was further complicated by the tribal system and various influential figures in Somali society, among whom were the pirates also involved in kidnapping the crew of the Honour 25.

“However, we hope for a better outcome,” he added, highlighting that Pakistan was in “constant contact” with Somalia’s government, authorities and relevant international organisations.

The spokesperson expressed his sympathy for the families and loved ones of the hostages, saying the government understood their pain and concern.

“This matter remains a priority and under our constant monitoring,” Andrabi said, adding that “all possible efforts” were being made to ensure the early repatriation and release of the hostages with the cooperation of relevant ministries and agencies.

Besides the 10 Pakistani crew members, the hostages also include seven Indonesians, including the captain, as well as an Indian and a Sri Lankan.

Families meet Farooq Sattar

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Sunday called on the federal government to take immediate steps for the recovery of Pakistani nationals held hostage by Somali pirates, saying the families of the victims were facing severe distress.

The demand came after senior party leader Dr Farooq Sattar met a delegation of the hostage families at the MQM-P temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, he urged the federal government, the prime minister, the field marshal, and the foreign, defence and interior ministers to take notice of the issue and ensure that the families were provided relief.

“The owner of the shipping company is not coming forward and is not negotiating with the pirates,” he said. “Neither Pakistan nor the families of the hostages should be held responsible for paying the ransom. I personally apologised to the families for the delay in meeting them.

He remarked that had Kamran Tessori still been the governor, “this issue would have been resolved by now,” claiming that the governor could have brought industrialists and traders together to help address the matter.

“If the federal government or the Somali government is not paying the money, MQM-P from Karachi can meet this target,” he said, assuring the families that his party would stand by them.

The MQM-P leader also questioned the provincial government’s response to the hostage crisis and asked how many times the Sindh chief minister had contacted the federal government on behalf of the affected families.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2026