Press. voanews.com
Somali security
forces have taken over an Indian-owned commercial boat held by Somali pirates
during an operation overnight, officials said. The mayor of Hobyo, Abdullahi
Ahmed Ali, told VOA's Somali service that his forces seized the boat after they
surrounded the vessel off the coast of Hin-Barwaaqo village, south of Hobyo.
He said the
pirates abandoned the boat after elders warned that security forces were
approaching and planning to storm the vessel. Pirates seized the boat, MSV Al
Kausar, earlier this month. Mayor Ali said only two of the crew members were
found on board the boat and authorities believe the remaining nine sailors were
moved to land by the pirates.
Officials said
security forces are pursuing the pirates who are holding the Indian sailors
hostage. “They took the sailors to Qarafaow village; we exchanged gunfire, we
have seized a vehicle carrying food and supplies for the pirates,” Ali said.
MSV Al Kausar
and its crew members were seized in the Indian Ocean en route to the southern
port town of Kismayo. The boat was chartered by a Somali businessman and was
carrying commercial goods. Meanwhile on Sunday, Indian and Chinese sailors
freed a cargo ship after pirates briefly seized the vessel. The incident marked
the fifth pirate attack this year off the Somali coast.
Security
officials say piracy is reemerging in Somali waters following an increase in
illegal fishing. The former director of intelligence in Somalia's Puntland
region, Abdi Hassan Hussein, told VOA organized groups are preparing to conduct
attacks.
“There are more
than eight groups who want to engage piracy activities; some of them already
went into the sea, some are in preparation and some have already carried out
attacks,” Hussein told VOA Somali. At
their peak in the early 2010's, Somali pirate gangs were responsible for
hundreds of attacks on commercial ships traveling in the Gulf of Aden, the
western Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.In all of 2016, the International
Maritime Bureau recorded only two pirate attacks near Somalia, neither of which
resulted in a hijacking.