Indian airborne commandos recapture ship off Somalia
Troops parachuted onto the hijacked Iranian fishing vessel to rescue all 20 crew members seized by armed pirates on Oct 29.
NEW DELHI, Nov 3 — Indian naval commandos parachuted onto a hijacked Iranian fishing vessel off the coast of Somalia and rescued all 20 crew members from the grasp of pirates, the Indian navy announced on Tuesday. Somali piracy has recently resurfaced, with a total of at least 15 attacks occurring since April, marking the highest number of incidents since 2013.
The vessel, identified as Azini, was taken aboard off the Somali coast between the towns of Bandar Beyla and Xaafun in the autonomous Puntland region on October 29, according to a report from the EU’s Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO). The Indian navy disclosed that the ship was likely being repurposed as a "mother ship" to orchestrate additional assaults on commercial vessels.
Prior to the commandos' intervention, a warship and a maritime reconnaissance aircraft had been monitoring the situation. The navy explained that the Azini was ultimately secured, the pirate threat neutralized, and the crew members were safely released. This was the third Iranian fishing boat to be hijacked off the Somali coast since July.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Indian airborne commandos recapture ship off Somalia freemalaysiatoday.com
- Indian commandos parachute onto hijacked ship off Somalia, rescue 20 crew malaymail.com
