India’s navy freed the Iranian fishing vessel Azini and all 20 crew members after an operation lasting more than 48 hours off Somalia, India’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. The vessel had been hijacked by pirates earlier last month, according to the Navy’s account. No casualties or injuries were reported.
According to the Defence Ministry, the rescue was completed on Monday in the Arabian Sea, more than 3,000 km from Mumbai. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave the same account, according to the South China Morning Post. The Navy off the northeastern coast of Somalia is where the vessel was located, based on the Navy’s statement as reported.
The Navy said it deployed a warship and a maritime reconnaissance aircraft to track the vessel. It said the hijacked ship was suspected of being used as a "mother ship" to launch attacks on merchant vessels. To contain it, the Navy said it used "calibrated non-kinetic measures" and inserted Marine Commandos by precision airdrop from an Indian Air Force C-17, according to the Navy’s statement as reported by Reddit’s r/india community.
An official with the Puntland Maritime Police Force said Indian forces disarmed 12 suspected Somali pirates, confiscated their mobile phones and released them, according to the South China Morning Post. The Navy’s statement does not mention arrests or releases, and the Indian Navy and Defence Ministry have not confirmed the Puntland official’s account in the sources reviewed.
NPR World reported that the hijacking followed a resurgence of Somali piracy across the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean. The Navy describes India as a "First Responder" and "Preferred Security Partner" in the Indian Ocean Region, a framing that comes from the Navy itself.
The key details rest on a small number of outlets, and full reporting from NPR World and the South China Morning Post was not reviewed, so only headlines and short excerpts were available. No response has been given by Iran, the Somali government or Puntland authorities on the release or the vessel’s future. The sources do not say whether the suspected pirates will face prosecution, where the crew and vessel will go, or whether further operations are planned.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.