Somalia’s al-Shabaab Terrorist Group Releases 14 Iranian Fishermen
FILE—In this file photo of Thursday, Feb.17, 2011, Hundreds of newly trained Shabaab fighters perform military exercises in the Lafofe area some 18 km south of Mogadishu, Somalia
Muhammad OsmanPolice forces in Somalia announced finding 20 foreigners, including 14 Iranians and 6 Pakistanis, in a territory controlled by the al-Qaeda*-affiliated al-Shabaab* group in November. Al-Shabaab has long been terrorizing people in Somalia and other countries in East Africa.Fourteen Iranian fishermen have been released after years of detention by the Al-Shabaab terrorist movement in Somalia., Iran’s IRNA News reported on Sunday.According to the agency, these fishermen, who hail from the Iranian coastal city of Chabahar, in southeast Iran on the Sea of Oman, were detained by the terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda in international waters near Somalia between 2014 and 2015.“They were freed after lengthy negotiations with government officials, tribal chiefs and Somali elders,” the official Iranian news agency said.A special reception ceremony was held for them at Imam Khomeini International Airport with the participation of their families and representatives of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Later, the freed Iranian nationals were reportedly dispatched to their hometown in the port of Chabahar after providing health services.In November, police forces in Somalia announced finding 20 foreigners, including 14 nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran and 6 of Pakistan, near a territory controlled by the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab group. Somali authorities said at the time that some of the foreign fishermen were kidnaped by the terrorists in 2014, while some others had fallen into their hands in late 2019.The Al-Shabaab jihadist movement has been fighting against the Somali government since the mid-2000s. The group, which managed to take control of some parts of Somalia, is active in other neighboring states in the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya.*Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda are terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia and other countries.
