Somali authorities say 14 pirates had been killed within the 10-day operation to free a Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel.
Printed On 30 Aug 2026
Turkish and Somali forces have freed a cargo ship held captive by pirates off the coast of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland state, based on authorities.
In an announcement on X on Saturday, the Somali Ministry of Defence stated that “14 pirates” died within the operation to free the Cameroon-flagged MV Latuf.
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4 of their boats had been additionally destroyed, it stated.
The Defence Ministry stated that “sustained strain from the forces in the end compelled the remaining pirates to desert the vessel”, permitting the forces to take management of the ship.
The rescue operation was carried out underneath a defence cooperation settlement between Somalia and Turkiye, geared toward strengthening maritime safety, defending Somalia’s shoreline and combating piracy, it stated.
The Somali Defence Ministry didn’t present particulars about any casualties or the wellbeing of the ship’s crew.
An area elder, Abdullahi Warsame, from the Jiifle neighborhood within the Godob Jiraan district of Puntland’s Nugal area, advised The Related Press information company that the vessel and its crew had been freed.
The MV Latuf left the Turkish Port of Tekirdag in late July. It was hijacked on August 17 in waters off the coast of the Nugal area of Puntland, a semi-autonomous federal state in northeastern Somalia.
In keeping with the Marine Site visitors web site, the cargo ship has continued its voyage to its reported vacation spot in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.
Piracy was rampant off the coast of Somalia within the 2000s, peaking in 2011, earlier than being curbed by worldwide naval deployments and new safety measures for business delivery.
However attacks have surged since April, with a minimum of 15 assaults off the coast of Somalia this 12 months, the very best since 2013, based on figures from the Worldwide Maritime Group. A minimum of 5 cargo ships have been held hostage, the final of which was seized on August 20 off the coast of Yemen.
