Turkey’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that an operation was recently carried out to regain control of a cargo ship that had been seized by Somali pirates less than two weeks prior.
Commandos embarked on a Turkish Navy frigate successfully boarded the Cameroon-registered general cargo ship Lutuf while off the coast of Somalia on Saturday, August 29.
The ensuing raid left 14 suspects dead while none of the commandos and hostages were harmed.
Four skiffs that had been used by the pirates were destroyed in the same operation, which was carried out jointly with Somali Government troops.
The commandos then secured the ship, the eight crewmembers, and the two embarked security personnel.
The crew consisted of one Turkish, one Georgian, and six Indian nationals while the two security personel were both Serbian nationals.
The ship was earlier seized four nautical miles south of the Somali town of Mareeyo on August 17.
The hijacking had occurred during a period of increased pirate activity off Somalia despite monsoon conditions in the region presenting challenges to navigation for small vessels such as the skiffs often employed by perpetrators.
