The guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd today rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who had been kidnapped by Somai pirates and held captive for nearly two months. The US Navy reported that the American forces flying off the destroyer boarded the Iranian-flagged fishing dhow Al Molai after Kidd received a distress call from the Iranian ship’s master. The rescue team also arrested 15 Somali pirated onboard.
USS Kidd conducts counter-piracy and maritime security operations while deployed to Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA carried a short report on the rescue, quoting a Pentagon spokesman that 13 Iranians had been freed. IRNA has added that the Iranian military had not yet confirmed the rescue operation by US forces.
Photo: The freed Iranian ship next to USS Kid in the north Arabian Sea. 6 January 2012. Photo by U.S. Navy.
