Somali pirates free 11 Indian sailors

Mar 10, 2011, 9:54 GMT

New Delhi - Somali pirates have freed 11 Indian sailors who were on a ship hijacked nearly a year ago, Indian officials said Thursday.

The pirates seized the vessel MV Rak Afrikana near the Seychelles in April and took 21 crew members hostage.

India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said that the freed sailors were being taken back to India on a Spanish naval ship. She did not disclose whether a ransom had been paid.

'Of 21 crew members, 11 were Indians. Negotiations on the release were delicate and prolonged,' she said in a post on the microblogging site Twitter.

Rao added that 53 Indian sailors were still being held by the pirates. Negotiations were underway to release the other Indians, news reports said quoting officials.

India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had Wednesday accused the Congress-led government of not making efforts to secure the release of Indians taken hostage by Somali pirates.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said the government was doing 'everything possible' to secure their release.

There have been increasing attacks by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and further out in the Indian Ocean from 2008, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Krishna said Indian authorities had approached the transitional government in Somalia for help in the crisis and the authorities there had promised to extend all possible assistance.

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