This Article is From Nov 11, 2011

Indian ship thwarts piracy attempt in Gulf of Aden, 26 pirates arrested

Indian ship thwarts piracy attempt in Gulf of Aden, 26 pirates arrested
Mumbai: Indian Naval ship, INS Sukanya, thwarted a piracy attack in the Gulf of Aden and captured three boats of the pirates.

A statement from the Defence PRO says the incident happened yesterday when INS Sukanya was escorting a group of merchant vessels. Five pirate boats tried to attack these vessels but were challenged by the Indian Naval ship. After a brief skirmish, two of them managed to flee the area but three boats were captured by INS Sukanya, the statement said.

The three boats had a total of 26 Somali crew onboard. During the operation, six AK-47 rifles, 12 magazines and about 300 rounds of ammunition were found and confiscated.

The operation holds significance as over a hundred billion dollars of India's external trade passes each year through this busy sea lane. This is the fifth successful anti-piracy operation conducted by INS Sukanya, in the course of her ongoing patrol mission in the Gulf of Aden, which commenced in September.

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