EU forces rescue Frenchwoman from pirates off Yemen
A French hostage has been rescued from pirates off Yemen and her captors detained but a second hostage remains missing, EU defence officials say.Spanish troops operating with the EU's anti-piracy force, Navfor, intercepted a skiff on Saturday, two days after the hostage's catamaran was found.
The hostage was freed and all the suspected pirates detained, Navfor said in a statement.
Spain's defence ministry said seven pirates had been detained.
The Spanish warship SPS Galicia had tracked the skiff after Navfor received a distress call from the catamaran, which was found abandoned.
After the skiff ignored an order to stop, the commander of the Galicia ordered his men to open fire, and a naval warfare team fired on the boat's engine to disable it.
The skiff was subsequently sunk, the Spanish defence ministry was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Navfor said the freed hostage had not been wounded or injured during the operation, and all the suspected pirates had been detained unharmed.
Somali pirates have targeted shipping, both commercial and pleasure craft, off the Horn of Africa for years.
They currently hold at least 30 vessels and their crews, keeping them moored along the coast of the war-torn country, which has not had a functioning government for two decades.
BBC
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