Somali Pirates Free Thai Sailors After Four Years in Captivity

By Mohamed Sheikh Nor

(Bloomberg) — Somali pirates released four Thai nationals who were held captive for more than four years, an anti-piracy official said.

Somalia’s Galmudug state helped secure the release on Thursday of the four, who had been crew members on a boat, local official Omar Sheikh Ali said by phone. He didn’t say whether any ransom was paid. United Nations officials were also involved in their release, he said.

“They’ve gone through a long-time horrific ordeal in which their captors often used torture,” Ali said.

Copyright 2015 Bloomberg.

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