SOMALIA: Ship hijack: Pirates exchange gunfire with naval forces

Naval forces off the coast of Somalia have exchanged gunfire with armed men on board a hijacked oil tanker after trying to intercept a boat believed to be carrying supplies, officials said. Puntland forces tried to stop the boat as it headed towards the vessel where eight people are being held hostage. Four people were […]

Naval forces off the coast of Somalia have exchanged gunfire with armed men on board a hijacked oil tanker after trying to intercept a boat believed to be carrying supplies, officials said.
Puntland forces tried to stop the boat as it headed towards the vessel where eight people are being held hostage.
Four people were wounded in the incident, the BBC has learned.
The oil tanker was seized on Monday while en route from Djibouti to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
It is the first hijack off Somalia’s coast since 2012.
The director general of the Puntland maritime force, Abdirahman Mohamud Hassan, said that “pirates” on board the tanker opened fire after authorities tried to intercept a boat believed to be carrying essential supplies, such as food.