[Iran Press TV] Somali pirates kidnapped a minister from Somalia's northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland following a shootout with security guards near the town of Garaad.Heavily armed pirates ambushed the convoy of Puntland's Fisheries and Seaports Minister Said Mohamed Rage on his way to Garaad, a well-known pirate stronghold in central Somalia, a Press TV correspondent reports.
"Aaaarrr, me hearties! 'Tis the Fisheries and Seaports Minister we be after! He's comin' right to Port Royal! We'll nab him before he gets there and..."
"Ummm... Boss? Why don't we wait until he gets there to nab him?"
"We got the information that heavily armed pirates ambushed the minister's convoy while travelling in between Garacad and Jiriban. One of his guards and a local elder were killed while the minister was taken hostage," said Ali Yusuf Ali, Puntland's deputy interior minister.
"Aaaarrr! One false move an' the Minister gets it!"
The minister was on a sensitizing mission to the pirate's stronghold where he was to meet with local elders and elites, according to Ali.
Puntland has been transformed into a notorious base used by local pirates to launch attacks on merchant vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.