Reuters reported that Somali pirates released the hijacked ship “Abdullah” and its crew of 23 members after a ransom of $5 million was paid.

One of the pirates, Abdul Rashid Yusuf, told the agency that they received the money two nights ago as usual, then validated and divided the funds, before releasing the ship and its entire crew on Sunday, avoiding government forces.

Somali government officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The Bangladeshi-flagged bulk ship was hijacked in March while on its voyage from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates, about 600 nautical miles east of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Waters off the Somali coast were in chaos between 2008 and 2018 due to pirate activity, and things remained calm until the end of last year, when pirate activity began to rise again.
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