Monday June 17, 2024
Garowe (HOL) - Somali security forces in Puntland State have apprehended one of the Somali pirates who attacked and hijacked the MV Abdullah, a Bangladeshi-flagged cargo ship, along with its 23-member crew in March this year.
The Puntland police announced on Monday that they had arrested Mohamed Sufi Rasas in Garowe town, where he had been hiding for the past few days. The arrest followed a tip-off about his whereabouts.
The police added that Rasas was one of the hijackers of the MV Room ship and was later transferred to the MV Abdullah. They also stated that he was among the pirates who took the ransom money from the ship. In April, Puntland security forces arrested eight pirates accused of being involved in the attack.
Somali pirates released the Bangladesh-flagged vessel and its 23-member crew after a $5 million ransom was paid, according to two pirates.
The MV Abdullah, a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier - a type of merchant ship used to transport large amounts of cargo - was hijacked in March as it was heading from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates. The hijacking occurred about 600 nautical miles east of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
A spike in hijackings has been reported off Somalia's coast in recent months, with more than a dozen vessels targeted since late November.