Somali pirates capture foreign ship

Somali pirates seized a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship off Africa's east coast and are holding its 26 crew members from India and Burma hostage, officials said Thursday.

The European Union's anti-piracy task force said pirates using automatic weapons captured the MV Al Khaliq some 320 kilometres west of the Seychelles islands early Thursday.

It's the third foreign vessel in the last eight days to be hijacked by pirates based in the East African country, where rival warlords and al-Qaeda insurgents fight each other and the nominal Somali government.

International Maritime Bureau spokesman Noel Choong said Thursday's hijacking demonstrated a new trend: pirates actively targeting vessels very far off the coast during clear weather.

The attack comes on the same day that Islamic insurgents fired mortars at Somalia's airport as the president was boarding a plane, sparking a battle that killed at least 20 people.

President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed was unharmed as his plane took off safely, police officials said.

Somalia has not had an effective government in 18 years, and the country's capital of Mogadishu, where fragile United Nations-backed government is based, sees bloodshed almost daily, as African Union peacekeepers battle insurgents.

Pirates hold 7 ships, 165 crew members

The resulting lawlessness across the country has made the international waters around the Horn of Africa vulnerable to pirates.

Pirates attacked a Singapore-flagged bulk container last Thursday and a Chinese cargo ship on Monday.

Pirates also unsuccessfully attempted to hijack an Italian-flagged ship off the Kenyan coast on Thursday, according to the EU task force.

Choong said the latest attacks brought the number of attacks off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden to 178 this year, with 36 ships hijacked.

Pirates are currently holding seven ships and 165 crew members, Choong said.

Somali pirates seized more than 40 vessels in 2008, and negotiated an estimated $30 million US in ransom.