Somalia’s notorious pirates have anchored a Libyan ship they hijacked early this week at a northern coastal town in the early hours of Friday morning, authorities confirmed.
Chairman of Laas-Qoray district in eastern Sanaag region of the Puntland State of Somalia Yusuf Jama Dibad told reporters that the Libyan ship MV Rim came near shore early on Friday morning but elders in the area asked pirates to take the ship far from them and they then moved toward nearby Gacan coast.
Reports say that late last night the pirates on the ship exchanged fire with the costal guards of Somaliland, a breakaway republic in northern Somalia just bordering with the Puntland State which is the hotbed of Somali pirates.
Residents say there were casualties on both sides but the exact number of deaths or wounds is yet unclear.
The MV Rim which sails under North Korean flag but owned by White Sea Shipping of Tripoli was seized Tuesday in the high seas south of Yemen a busy sea side in the Gulf of Aden. The MV Rim is carrying 17 crew members who are believed to be Romanian and Libyan nationalities.
Although there are nearly 20 warships from the United States, Europe, China and other nations taking part in the anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast, the buccaneers still seem to be redoubling their attacks and hijackings against ships off the Somali coast.
Somalia has been without a functioning central government for the last two decades and as the result, the country’s insecure cost, the longest in Africa became a very dangerous scene vulnerable to rampant piracy.
