Turkey and Somalia have freed a hijacked ship off the coast of the northeastern Somali state of Puntland after a 10-day "intense military pressure" in which 14 pirates were killed, the government in Mogadishu said, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
Since April, the Horn of Africa coast has been subjected to increased pirate attacks, BTA recalls. Since the beginning of the year, at least 15 attacks have been carried out off the coast of Somalia - a record number since 2013, according to an AFP analysis based on data from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
During the 10-day operation, four vessels used by the pirates were destroyed and 14 pirates were killed. The continued military pressure eventually forced the remaining pirates to abandon ship. Turkish forces then secured the ship, the "LUTUF", which continued its safe voyage, the Somali Ministry of Defense said in a statement, without specifying what cargo the ship was carrying.
According to the maritime traffic tracking website MarineTraffic, the Cameroonian-flagged cargo ship left Turkey in late July and headed for the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam.
International media reported that it was carrying Turkish weapons. Somali federal authorities and Puntland state authorities did not confirm this information to AFP in response to a request from the agency.
At least five ships are still in the hands of Somali pirates, the last of which was hijacked on August 20 off the coast of Yemen.