Turkiye, Somalia forces frees cargo vessel hijacked by pirates

Somali authorities say 14 pirates were killed in the 10-day operation to free a Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel.Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026Turkish and Somali forces have freed a cargo ship held captive by pirates off the coast of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland state, according to authorities.In a statement on X on Saturday, the Somali Ministry of Defence said that “14 pirates” died in the operation to free the Cameroon-flagged MV Lutuf.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Suspected pirates steer cargo vessel towards Somalialist 2 of 3Suspected Somali pirates seize tanker near Yemen amid wave of hijackingslist 3 of 3Gunmen seize tanker off Yemen amid resurgence of Somali piracyend of listFour of their boats were also destroyed, it said.The Defence Ministry said that “sustained pressure from the forces ultimately compelled the remaining pirates to abandon the vessel”, allowing the forces to take control of the ship.The rescue operation was conducted under a defence cooperation agreement between Somalia and Turkiye, aimed at strengthening maritime security, protecting Somalia’s coastline and combating piracy, it said.The Somali Defence Ministry did not provide detai...