Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday confirmed that an LPG tanker carrying 27 crew members, including 24 Pakistanis, was attacked by an Israeli drone at Yemen’s Ras Issa port on September 17.

The strike caused an LPG tank on the vessel to explode, sparking a fire that the crew managed to bring under control.

The ship was later intercepted by Houthi boats, and the crew, including Pakistani captain Mukhtar Ahmed, was held hostage.

The minister expressed gratitude to the Foreign Office (FO) and diplomatic teams for ensuring the safe release of Pakistani nationals.

“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,” he said.

“Alhamdulillah the tanker and its crew have now been released by the Houthis and are out of Yemeni waters,” he posted on X.

According to Naqvi, besides the Pakistanis, the crew also included two Sri Lankans and one Nepali.

The FO earlier confirmed that all Pakistani nationals aboard the vessel were “safe, healthy, and making their way out of Yemeni waters.”

It added that the diplomatic mission remained in contact with Yemeni authorities as well as the families of crew members throughout the ordeal.