Fishermen held by pirates off Somalia coast freed

Fishermen on board two trawlers hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia have been rescued in separate naval operations.

The Seychelles Coast Guard says it captured three pirates and freed six crew members of a Sri Lankan fishing boat that had been seized in the Arabian Sea.

At the same time, an Indian warship has intervened to rescue 17 people taken hostage on an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

There's been an upsurge in activity by Somalia-based pirates coinciding with the recent wave of missile attacks in the same area against international shipping by Houthi forces in Yemen.