Pirates hijack ship carrying UN aid

PIRATES hijacked a cargo ship delivering UN food aid to northeastern Somalia yesterday — at least the third time since 2005 that a vessel contracted to the United Nations has been hijacked off the country’s dangerous coast.

The ship, MV Rozen, had just dropped off more than 1,800 tons of food aid in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in north-eastern Somalia when the pirates struck, said Stephanie Savariaud, a spokeswoman for the UN’s World Food Programme.

It was not immediately known if any of the 12 crew members aboard — six from Sri Lanka and six from Kenya — were injured in the attack.