ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Wednesday it was in contact with Saudi Arabia and Yemen after a Houthi attack on a commercial vessel in the Red Sea killed three Pakistani nationals and injured another.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Islamabad was seeking further information about the incident and the circumstances surrounding the attack.
“We are in contact with the relevant Saudi authorities, as well as the internationally recognized Government of Yemen, to ascertain further details of the incident,” Dar said in a statement on X.
He said information available to Pakistan so far confirmed that three Pakistanis had been killed and another injured.
Dar strongly condemned the attack on the commercial vessel, saying it was a non-combatant ship.
“Such attacks endanger innocent lives, constitute a violation of international law, and pose a serious threat to freedom of navigation, maritime security, and the safety of commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” he said.
Reuters reported that four crew members, including three Pakistanis and an Indonesian national, were killed when the Egyptian-owned cargo vessel Tihamah came under attack in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait on Tuesday.
Two Yemeni rescuers were also killed, while 10 others were injured, according to Yemeni authorities.
Dar said he had instructed Pakistan’s embassy in Riyadh to coordinate with Saudi and Yemeni authorities over the incident.
He also directed the diplomatic mission to pursue arrangements for the repatriation of the bodies of the deceased Pakistanis and provide all possible assistance to the injured national.
The attack came amid growing security risks in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, a key maritime passage linking the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and, through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean.
The waterway is a major trade route between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Security concerns have increased since the Iran-aligned Houthis threatened Saudi-linked shipping in July. Attacks on commercial vessels in the region have also resumed.
The latest incident comes days after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed a trilateral defence pact under which an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack on all.
The risks to regional shipping have gained further significance as the Iran-US conflict has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, another major maritime chokepoint connecting Gulf energy producers with international markets.
