How an Indian ship captured Somali pirates

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 captured 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.