Fourteen Indian sailors,taken hostage by Somali pirates,were rescued by a NATO warship after their dhow was released. The dhow was carrying a shipment of charcoal from Brava,south of Mogadishu,to Sharjah in the UAE,when it was attacked by pirates on June 3. Ismail Abdurehman,the captain of Vishvakalyan said six pirates,armed with AK-47 rifles and a rocket propelled grenade launcher,forced the vessel to stop. Two more skiffs with a dozen more pirates joined in. Once on board,the pirates beat up the sailors,and forced them to steer to somewhere near Hobyo,north of Mogadishu,where they were kept as prisoners for 10 days. The pirates stole all food on the dhow and robbed them of all their belongings. On Friday night though,they released the dhow,which was picked up on radar by NATOs Portuguese warship 'NRP Corte-Real' early on Saturday morning,some 20 nautical miles south-east of Hobyo. The crew could not call for help as the pirates had damaged the VHF radio. Sonia Pereira,the doctor on board the warship,said the men were suffering from bruises,dehydration,diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses. One even had a dental abscess. They hit the crew all over,on the head,everywhere, said Alison Bevege,an Australian journalist on board the warship,quoting Abdurehman.
