Seychelles coast guard rescues 6 Sri Lankan fishermen from boat hijacked by Somali pirates

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Seychelles coast guard has rescued six Sri Lankan fishermen whose vessel was hijacked by Somali pirates two days earlier. An official from the fisheries department in Colombo said the three armed hijackers have been arrested. The official said that after Monday’s rescue, the fishermen and their boat are now safe and are being taken to the Seychelles. The abduction came two weeks after Sri Lanka said it would join a U.S.-led operation to protect merchant vessels sailing in the Red Sea against attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels. Other suspected hijackings in waters off Somalia have raised concern that Somali pirates have resumed activity, a decade after they caused chaos in international shipping.