Indian naval forces completed a rescue operation Monday involving the Iranian fishing boat Azini and its crew, according to India’s Defense Ministry announcement made Tuesday. The vessel had been hijacked on October 29 between Bandar Bayla and Hafun in waters off Somalia. The operation, which lasted more than 48 hours, took place in the Arabian Sea more than 3,000 kilometers from Mumbai and involved a warship, maritime surveillance aircraft, and marine commandos, with an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft airdropping additional personnel.
According to a Puntland Maritime Police Force official, Indian forces disarmed 12 suspected Somali pirates during the operation, confiscated their mobile phones, and subsequently released them. The suspects and two Somali security guards were brought ashore at Bandar Bayla in northeastern Somalia, with three individuals sustaining minor injuries during the process. India’s Defense Ministry stated the operation concluded without casualties or injuries, though the scope of that account was not fully clarified.
The incident reflects a broader resurgence of piracy activity in the region. Since April, pirates have hijacked six commercial vessels across the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean, including an oil products tanker seized substantially east of Yemen. In September, authorities reported that pirates killed five crew members of another hijacked tanker before regional security forces recovered it, leading to the detention of 16 suspected pirates.
The renewed piracy threat compounds existing maritime challenges in the area, where Iran-related tensions and attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have already disrupted shipping lanes and elevated transportation costs. International naval patrols and enhanced maritime security measures had significantly reduced Somali piracy over the preceding decade, but these recent hijackings have reignited concerns about sustained threats to commercial shipping operations in the region.
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