TEHRAN – Fourteen Iranian fishermen have been released after being held captive by the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia for eight years.
The Iranian foreign ministry announced that it had successfully negotiated the release of the hostages.
The terrorists kidnapped the fishermen in international waters near Somalia in 2015.
The fishermen arrived at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran Friday night from Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.
For years, Somalia has been at war with Al-Shabaab, an armed organization ideologically affiliated with Al-Qaeda that was founded in early 2004, and has carried out a number of terrorist operations that have claimed hundreds of lives.
Al-Shabaab militants were driven out of Mogadishu by an African Union force in 2011, but the group still controls large swaths of the countryside.
It continues to launch lethal strikes on civilian and military targets, frequently targeting popular hotels and restaurants.