Pirates off the coast of Somalia have seized a Ukrainian ship carrying T-72 tanks, an official has said.
Ukraine's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
A report from Russia's Interfax news agency said earlier that the ship had a cargo of about 30 tanks, as well as spare parts for armoured vehicles.
There has been a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Somali pirates are currently holding more than a dozen hijacked ships in the base in Eyl, a town in Ukraine's governing coalition officially dissolved ...
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Andrew Mwngura, who runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, confirmed to the BBC that the Ukrainian ship seized by pirates was carrying a cargo of tanks.
The tanks were due to be delivered to South Sudan.
Insurgents in Somalia, not known to have links to the pirates, are currently battling a combination of government troops, their Ethiopian allies and African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu and other parts of southern Somalia.
The country has not had an effective national government for 17 years, leading to a collapse of law and order both on land and the sea.
(BBC)
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