Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that an Israeli drone attacked a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker with 27 crew members, including 24 Pakistanis, while docked at a Yemeni port earlier this month.
“An LPG tanker with 27 crew members (24 Pakistanis, including Captain Mukhtar Akbar; 2 Sri Lankans; 1 Nepali) was attacked by an Israeli drone while docked at Ras al-Esa port (under Houthi control) on 17 September 2025,” said Naqvi on X.
“One LPG tank exploded and the crew managed to extinguish the fire. The vessel was subsequently stopped by Houthi boats and the crew were held hostage aboard the ship,” he added.
He maintained: “I am profoundly grateful to Secretary Interior Khurram Agha and other MOI officers, Ambassador Naveed Bokhari and his team in Oman, our colleagues in Saudi Arabia, and especially the officials of our security agencies who worked day and night under extraordinary conditions to secure the safe release of our citizens when hope was fading.”
Prior to this, the Foreign Office said that concerned Pakistani embassies established contacts with the authorities in Yemen to ensure the well-being of the crew.
In a statement, FO spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said that efforts were made to set the tanker underway again.
He added that diplomatic missions also maintained contact with the family members of the Pakistani crew and kept them updated about the latest situation.
“Today, the LPG tanker has departed port and is making way out of the Yemeni waters. The entire crew including Pakistani nationals on board is safe and sound,” he added.
The Houthis and Israel have exchanged attacks in the past months amid rising tension over Tel Aviv’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, where more than 65,500 people have been killed since October 2023.
