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Pirates shot and
Gulf Daily News
Thursday, 14th March 2013
A FISHERMAN shot by pirates near
Iranian waters has spoken for the first
time about how he was left for dead.
Bangladeshi Mobarak Abdul Sattar
remained untreated for around eight hours
while the dhow, Loloat Alorais, was ransacked,
and eventually fell unconscious.
He was later helped by crew members and
had to undergo two operations to remove a
bullet from his shoulder.
Mr Sattar was on board with a Bahraini
and four other Bangladeshis when they were
attacked by two boats of armed pirates on
March 4. They intercepted the vessel, forced
the fishermen to anchor and towed it to
Iranian waters.
The crew was held captive for around eight
hours.
“We were sailing the dhow near the border
of Bahraini waters when we heard gunshots,”
By BASMA MOHAMMED and ANIQA HAIDER
Mr Sattar told the GDN.
“I was on the front of the deck and trying
to figure out where the noise came from when
I was shot.
“I was shot on the shoulder from the back
and the bullet went deep inside.
“I fell unconscious and didn’t know what
happened later.
“We were on the dhow for 15 hours before
we came back to the jetty.
“I lost so much blood and my colleagues
were worried that I may not survive.”
Mr Sattar, who spent a week in Salmaniya
Medical Complex (SMC), said the rest of
the crew hid in the dhow until the pirates
left.
“We found out that they stole everything
we had on that dhow, including mobiles,
equipment and even our catch for the day,”
he said.
The fisherman is
married with a sixyear-old
daughter
and said his relatives
were desperate for
him to return home.
“My family members
are so worried
after hearing about
the incident and
are now urging me
to come back home
to Bangladesh,” he
said.
“I have already
spoken to my boss.
But he wanted me
to recover totally,
before making any
decisions.”
The attack,
described as “unacceptable”
by Foreign
Minister Shaikh
Khalid bin Ahmed
Al Khalifa, prompted
fishermen to demand
increased sea patrols
near Iranian waters.
In December 2009,
Radio Bahrain’s
David Bloomer and
four British sailors were arrested
by Iranian authorities after
straying into their waters.
They had been on their way
to Dubai for the start of the
Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing
Race 2009 when a propeller
problem was thought to have
caused their yacht to drift into
Iranian waters. They were
released after a week.
basma@gdn.com.bh
aneeqa@gdn.com.bh.
n Mr Sattar recovering at
home