Family of Abducted Baloch Activist Demands Justice at Press Conference in Awaran
Balochistan: Two Baloch fishermen killed in UAE Coast guard’s firing
Photo credit Rasank Facebook page: The deceased Baloch fishermen
DOZZAAP (Zahedan): On Thursday 20th of August the Iranian state news reported that the UAE Coast Guards have opened fire on a fishing boat and killed at least two fishermen.
According to Ransak (Facebook page), the identity of two deceased fishermen has been confirmed as Yaqoob and Mansoor Jadgal Baloch resident of the Dashtyari region in Iranian Occupied Balochistan.
The Baloch fishermen had gone for fishing in the waters of Bostaneh region in port Lengeh in Hormozgan province of Iran.
The Iranian and UAE state officials have both claimed to have seized each other’s ship due to illegal traffic in their ‘country’s water’.
According to Iranian state media reports, “On Monday, U.A.E. guards shot dead two Iranian fishermen and seized a boat,” the ministry said, adding that it had summoned the U.A.E. charge d’affaires in Tehran to protest.
The UAE state news agency WAM reported on August 17 that U.A.E. coastguards had tried to stop fishing boats that had violated the country’s territorial waters.
However, It did not report any casualties.
Also on 17 of August 2020, three Baloch sailors have been released after five years of being held hostage by the Somalian Pirates.
The released sailors include Abdullah Nohani, Jamal-ul-Deen Dehwari and Ibrahim Baloch. They were caught and taken hostage by pirates in the waters of Somali in early 2015.
Due to the intervention of international humanitarian organisations, they have now been safely released.
It is said that the number of these sailors were initially over twenty people, many of whom were killed by pirates.
The social media activists have also played an important role in the release of these Baloch sailors as they pressurized the Islamic Republic of Iran for immediate action to save their lives.
Human Rights activists from Balochistan and other social rights activists used hashtag #FreeIranianSailors to highlight the case of the hostage sailors.
It is pertinent to mention that another hostage Mohammad Sharif Panahi was also released some time ago.
Some of Iran’s security and military forces claimed to mediate the release of these people whereas earlier the Iranian government had previously announced that it was practically impossible to release these sailors because of the disconnection of communication between both countries – Somalia and Iran.
