Hijacked Indian cargo ship rescued but 8 crew missing

Mogadishu, April 11 : 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 for the pirate-hub region of Hobyo, told local press 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 of the crew are still missing because the pirates took them off the boat,” the commissioner said.
Ali said the two rescued crew members from India were healthy and that authorities were seeking their colleagues.
Their abductors are believed to be holding them near Hobyo.
The pirates had “refused a call by the local authorities to release the vessel and local forces forcefully engaged them,” local security official Qoje Abdulahi told AFP by phone.
Somali security forces exchanged fire with the hijackers who fled to the shore aboard a fast boat, taking eight of their hostages with them, Ali said.