Five Yemeni fishermen, held in custody for 90 days at Somali Qarad area, have been freed by their Somali pirate captors, according to the Interior Ministry.
The fishermen explained to the authorities after their arrival in Mukalla City, Hadramout, the Somali pirates attacked their ship during a voyage between MuKalla and Aden in April 2010.
Four other fishermen remain in the pirate’s custody and it is hoped that they will be released in the coming days.
The five released fishermen described how they were first taken to Qarad area and then, in June, transferred to Bosaso port from where they were deported.
Elsewhere, in the Southern Red Sea a vessel carrying 18 Filipino sailors came under fire when Somali pirates hijacked the Marshall-flagged chemical tanker.
The MT Motivator came under small arms fire on Sunday morning in the northern Bab-Al-Mandeb area, the strait between the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa, in a statement made by the EU NAVFOR mission.
The statement said “After notification of this attack attempts were made to make contact with the Motivator but to no avail. The hijack was confirmed early on 5th July”