Comoros-flagged ship and eight Sri Lankan crew are freed without payment of ransom after negotiations

Somali pirates who seized a Comoros-flagged oil tanker have released the ship and its eight Sri Lankan crew, bringing the first hijacking since 2012 to an unusually swift conclusion without the payment of a ransom.

The release followed a gunfight earlier on Thursday between the pirates and the marine force, and then intensive negotiations between the marine force, clan elders and the pirates.

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