Danish family's captors may be taken

SHIPPING: The heavily armed pirates that held a Danish family hostage last year were among a number of bandits arrested by police in Somalia's northern Puntland region, Somalia Report says.

Troops from semi-autonomous Puntland attacked the northeastern pirate base of Hafun on Sunday, arresting 11 men including suspected pirate Mohamed Hassan -- known as Dhafoor -- and seizing automatic rifles and a machine gun.

"Dhafoor is a well-known pirate wanted by Puntland authorities for hijacking commercial vessels traveling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden waterways," Puntland's security forces said in a statement.

The authorities accuse Dhafoor of killing five Puntland security officers during a botched March 2011 operation to release a Danish family he was reportedly holding hostage, in a case that made headlines worldwide.

Pirates captured the seven Danes -- a family including three teenage children, plus two crew members -- in February 2011 during a round-the-world voyage.

They were released in September after the reported payment of a multi-million dollar ransom.

Source: Somalia Report