Iraqi clan claims to have freed ship from pirates off Somalia — Jerusalem Post

Members of Iraq’s Al-Shaganba clan said their representatives traveled to Somali waters and recovered a vessel that, according to the clan, had been seized by pirates. As The Jerusalem Post reports, the vessel allegedly belongs to a businessman from the clan and was reportedly carrying oil from the UAE to Europe.

The clan’s statement on the operation

According to Al-Shaganba, the vessel had been under the attackers’ control for a month, and a ransom was demanded for its release. The clan’s statement said the operation was carried out in Somali waters after contacts, coordination and obtaining permission from the Somali government.

Videos circulated on Arabic social media show two men, believed to be clan representatives, firing machine guns toward the pirates. Reports said the battle at sea lasted about five hours. The circumstances and course of the confrontation were not described in detail.

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Reports of detainees

Sheikh Ali al-Shaganba said seven suspected pirates were captured during the operation, while others managed to escape. Reports also claimed that several attackers were killed or wounded and that some people were detained.

According to Kurdistan24, citing a local media outlet and a tribal sheikh, 40 tribal representatives from Basra took part in freeing the oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, and the vessel’s crew was released.

Al-Shaganba representatives come from the Abu al-Khasib area south of Basra, near the Shatt al-Arab waterway. They are from the village of Jaikur near the Iranian border. The Al-Shaganba clan is part of the larger Obaida tribal confederation.