Somali pirates have reportedly hijacked an Iranian fishing vessel off the Horn of Africa to use it as a mothership in attacking bigger and more valuable ships, a report says.The incident occurred on Tuesday, after a group of pirates captured the Iranian vessel "in order to hijack (other) ships," Ali Shire, the mayor of Haabo, in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
, was quoted by Rooters as saying.
He further claimed that the Iranian fishing vessel did not allegedly "have a license (to fish) in Puntland."
The report, however, did not give more details about the fate of the Iranian fishermen.