Garowe Online (Garowe)
14 October 2008
Soldiers loyal to Somalia's regional government of Puntland stormed a ship that was hijacked last week and engaged in a gun-battle against the pirates, Radio Garowe reported Tuesday.
Puntland government officials held a press conference in the port city of Bossaso later today, where they gave details of the successful raid against the pirates.
"The ship is now in our hands," said Ahmed Said O'Nur, Puntland's minister for fisheries and ports, adding that soldiers arrested 10 pirates.
Three pirates and a Puntland soldier died during the operation, the minister said.
Another Puntland official speaking at the press conference, Ali Abdi Aware, who is the state minister for international cooperation, said the soldiers are to be commended and promised that the pirates "will face justice" inside a courtroom soon.
He appealed to foreign ship-owners to "stop paying ransom" to the pirates, saying ransom money "helps fuel piracy."
Puntland, a regional autonomy in northeastern Somalia, has strict laws against piracy and kidnapping.
On Sunday, a Bossaso-based court sentenced three kidnappers to death. Full story
Legal experts told Radio Garowe that the 10 pirates arrested by Puntland soldiers "will face execution" if convicted in court.
Currently, pirates are holding several foreign vessels along Somalia's coast, including a ship carrying 33 Soviet-era tanks that was seized last month.
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