Thursday, February 17, 2011

Navy rescue hostages from Somali pirates

Five hostages and their fishing vessel have been freed from the clutches of Somali pirates by a naval boarding party from HMS Cornwall.

Five hostages, all from Yemen, were discovered during a search of a sailing boat in the Indian Ocean, the Ministry of Defence said.

The men had been held captive for three months in a Somali dhow used by pirates a base from which to attack ships in the area.

HMS Cornwall was alerted to the boat by a South Korean merchant vessel, which noticed it acting suspiciously.

Aboard the dhow, the frigate's boarding party also found and destroyed weapons including rocket propelled grenades, and three skiffs used to launch attacks.

HMS Cornwall is one of several warships from Combined Maritime Force, a multi-national anti-piracy naval task force, which have been sent to the Indian Ocean to protect shipping routes from Somali pirate attacks.

Source: The Telegraph

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