Nine Pakistanis among 12 hostages freed from Somali pirates

The Danish Navy on Thursday said it had stopped a pirate ship off the Somali coast, rescuing 12 hostages, nine of them Pakistanis, and arresting their 16 captors.

“The Danish warship Absalon yesterday (Wednesday) stopped a pirate mother-ship. Sixteen suspected pirates have been arrested. Twelve hostages from Pakistan and Iran have been rescued,” the navy said in a statement. “No one was injured during the operation,” navy spokesman Mikael Bill told AFP, adding that nine of the hostages were Pakistani and three were Iranian and that they had been held by the suspected pirates for about a month.

“They were being held on their own boat,” a fishing vessel, which the pirates had hijacked and used to attack other ships, Bill explained. 


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Turkish forces rescue ferry from the lone hijacker

Full Story: BBC Europe 12 November 2011

A Turkish anti-terrorist commandos stormed the hijacked vessel at dawn and shot the lone hijacker dead. All 24 personnel on-board were safe, held by the hostages for 12 long hours.

The hijacker claimed to be carrying a bomb, which was later said to be fake. In fact he was carrying a mechanism made of bottles and wires, which was designed to look like a bomb. He is believed to have belonged to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

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