Somalia: Hijacked Indian cargo ship rescued, but 8 crew missing

Mogadishu: Somali security forces have liberated an Indian cargo ship from the pirates who hijacked it, but only two of the ten-man crew were rescued, authorities in central Somalia have said. Abdulahi Ahmed Ali, district commissioner of Hobyo, said yesterday that the "Al Kauser" ship had been held off the Indian Ocean coast near Yemen after the hijacking on March 31. "We have the boat and two of the crew members but eight other members are still missing because the pirates took them off the boat," he said, adding the two rescued crew members from India were healthy and that authorities were seeking their colleagues.

The pirates had "refused a call by the local authorities to release the vessel and local forces forcefully engaged them," said local security official Qoje Abdulahi.