Indian Navy captures 23 Somali pirates

New Delhi, Dec 13: Taking the lead in the fight against piracy, the Indian Navy on Saturday arrested 23 Somali pirates. An Indian warship, INS Mysore deployed in the Gulf of Aden attacked two boats of pirates after receiving signals from a ship that the pirates were trying to hijack.

The Indian warship was patrolling in the Somali waters when it rushed to rescue MV Gibe, a merchant vessel flying the Ethiopian flag.

The pirates on two speed boats had surrounded the merchant vessel, when INS Mysore warship intervened and warded off the attack, Navy spokesperson said here.

The pirates had fired at the merchant vessel with their small arms, when it sent out a rescue call and the Indian warship, which was sailing nearby moved its Marine Commandos on an helicopter to help the distressed cargo vessel, he said.

The attack took place about 150 nautical miles off Aden and INS Mysore was about 13 nautical miles away from the merchant vessel when it picked up the SOS call.

The Navy flew its Marine Commandos on helicopters to the scene of the pirate attack and rescued the ship. MV Gibe was later escorted to safety, he added.

The Indian commandos also recovered 12 AK 47 guns, three rifles, two grenades along with other ammunition.

Out of 23 arrested pirates, 12 are reportedly from Somalia and 11 from Yemen.

The Indian warship, the INS Mysore, was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden after a spike in piracy and hijackings off the coast of Somalia, which is caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has had no functioning government since 1991.