Baku, Azerbaijan , May 14
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's ports and maritime organization has rejected reports about the capture of 15 Iranian sailors by Somalia 's Al-Shabaab armed group.
Hadi Haghshenas, deputy director of the organization said that the report is not true and no official body in Somali has confirmed it.
"Maritime organizations in the region have data and information communication and we have not received any information on the issue from other maritime organizations in the region," Haghshenas said, Iran 's Fars news agency reported May 14.
"The Islamic Republic's ports and maritime organization officially rejects kidnapping of the Iranian sailors," Haghshenas emphasized.
Asghar Mohammadpour, an official with the Shipping Lines of the Islamic Republic had earlier confirmed the report.
On May 13 Omar Abdisamad, a Somali government official said that several Iranian sailors - along with their fishing boat are being held by Al-Shabaab armed group in the port town of El-Dheer in Somalia 's Galgadud region.
"The Puntland Coast Guard has been alerted to the capture of the boat in El-Dheer," Abdisamad said.
El-Dheer is one of the few remaining seaports still controlled by Al-Shabaab.
Edited by CN
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