Somali Pirates Flee Hijacked Indian Cargo Ship, Take Crew Hostage

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As Somali forces rescued hijacked Indian cargo dhow, pirates took one of the 11 crew members with them

Story Highlights
  • Somali security forces rescue hijacked Indian cargo ship
  • 11 crew members of Indian cargo ship taken hostage by pirates
  • Pirates are demanding freedom of other pirates jailed in India

MOGADISHU: Somali security forces rescued a hijacked Indian cargo dhow on Monday, but pirates took the 11-member crew with them when they fled to land, authorities said.

The Al Kausar vessel was seized earlier this month, part of a sudden string of attacks by Somali pirates after years without a reported incident.

"We attacked the Indian ship and rescued it but the pirates took away the 11 crew. We rescued two crew and they went with nine crew into the hilly areas between El Hur and Hardheere," Mohamed Hashi Arabey, vice president of Galmudug state, told Reuters.





Galmudug is a federal state within the Horn of Africa country that operates its own security forces.

The two crew were in a car that the pirates had to abandon after they were chased, Galmudug's vice president said.

Pirates told Reuters they would keep the crew to use as bargaining chips for the freedom of pirates jailed in India.

"We encouraged our friends to run away with the crew if they are attacked so that they exchange for the release of 117 pirates jailed in India," pirate Saiid said.

"We are ready to reinforce our friends so that Galmudug forces do not rescue the nine crew of the Indian ship."

Somali pirate attacks peaked with 237 in 2012 but then declined steeply after ship owners improved security measures and international naval forces stepped up patrols.

But this month has seen a new rash of attacks, with two ships captured and a third rescued by Indian and Chinese forces after the crew radioed for help and locked themselves in a safe room.

Residents of the Somali coastline say piracy has resumed after local authorities issued permits for foreign fishing vessels to fish in Somali waters. They say the foreign vessels have cut nets belonging to locals and run down small boats.
 

aditya g

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Why the hell didn't we conduct the special operation ourselves and save our boys?
 

Vinod DX9

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Why the hell didn't we conduct the special operation ourselves and save our boys?
MARCOS can't conduct any kind of operation if the pirates are inside Somali waterline or on Somali soil , if they do which is unlikely it would be considered as military ops on foreign land by third party and can be regarded as military aggression , which may deteroruate relationship with strategically important Somalian working Gov.
 

armyofhind

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MARCOS can't conduct any kind of operation if the pirates are inside Somali waterline or on Somali soil , if they do which is unlikely it would be considered as military ops on foreign land by third party and can be regarded as military aggression , which may deteroruate relationship with strategically important Somalian working Gov.
There is no working government in Somalia. Much less strategically important.
The Pirates are pretty much sponsored by the government and many times are ex Somali navy.

Political correctness needs to be done away with and they need to be shot on sight.
 

pmaitra

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I wish it were the other way around, i.e., the crew rescued and the vessel lost.

What are India's options here?
 

aditya g

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This is classic bureaucratic thinking. Saving our people is higher priority than what Somali government (assuming there is one) thinks - and whether they even know that the operation was done.

If you can't mount an op in Somalia you will never have confidence of doing it in say Afghanistan.

MARCOS can't conduct any kind of operation if the pirates are inside Somali waterline or on Somali soil , if they do which is unlikely it would be considered as military ops on foreign land by third party and can be regarded as military aggression , which may deteroruate relationship with strategically important Somalian working Gov.
 

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10 pirates holding Indian hostages captured by Somali security forces in stand-off

Regional security forces rescued the Indian cargo on Monday but pirates who seized it escaped beforehand with nine crew members to try to force the release of pirates jailed in India.

Hirsi Yusuf Barre, mayor of Galkayo in Somalia's Galmudug state, said 10 of the pirates surrendered after they were surrounded, leaving just three holding the nine dhow crew.

Apart from denying the pirates food and water, security forces had brought the parents of the three pirates to the scene to persuade their sons to give up, Barre said.

"The remaining three pirates will be taken out by their parents in the coming hours. We shall rescue the nine crew soon and they will rejoin their two colleagues on the ship,"
he said.

Two of the dhow crew were rescued on Monday after being left in a car that the pirates had to abandon after a chase.


3 SHIPS HIJACKED IN A MONTH

The hijacking of the Al Kausar was part of a sudden string of attacks by Somali pirates after years without a reported incident. Attacks peaked with 237 in 2012 but then declined steeply after ship owners improved security measures and international naval forces stepped up patrols.

This month has seen a new rash of attacks, with two ships captured and a third rescued by Indian and Chinese forces after the crew radioed for help and locked themselves in a safe room.

Residents of Somalia's Indian Ocean coastline say piracy has resumed after local officials issued permits for foreign fishing vessels to fish in Somali waters. The foreign fishermen they say, have cut nets belonging to locals and run down small boats.
 

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Somalia's army rescues 8 Indian crew held hostage by pirates

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Somalia's military has rescued 8 Indian crew members who had been held hostage by pirates, said an official.

The sailors of a ship hijacked last week were rescued after regional forces surrounded their pirate captors in a small village outside Hobyo town, Abdullahi Ahmed Ali, the mayor of Hobyo, told The Associated Press.

Four pirates were also arrested during the operation, he said. All the Indian crew members have now been rescued as two were freed earlier, he said. Ten crew members were taken captive, not 11 as initially announced by officials, he said.

Pirates made the captive crew members walk long distances in the bush for days to avoid troops that were chasing them.

"They are exhausted and hungry because of that long ordeal," the mayor said.
 

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