Turkish and Somali forces have freed a cargo ship held captive by pirates off the coast of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland state, according to authorities.

In a statement on X on Saturday, the Somali Ministry of Defence said that “14 pirates” died in the operation to free the Cameroon-flagged MV Latuf.

Four of their boats were also destroyed, it said.

The Defence Ministry said that “sustained pressure from the forces ultimately compelled the remaining pirates to abandon the vessel”, allowing the forces to take control of the ship.

The rescue operation was conducted under a defence cooperation agreement between Somalia and Turkiye, aimed at strengthening maritime security, protecting Somalia’s coastline and combating piracy, it said.

The Somali Defence Ministry did not provide details about any casualties or the wellbeing of the ship’s crew.

A local elder, Abdullahi Warsame, from the Jiifle community in the Godob Jiraan district of Puntland’s Nugal region, told The Associated Press news agency that the vessel and its crew had been freed.

The MV Latuf left the Turkish Port of Tekirdag in late July. It was hijacked on August 17 in waters off the coast of the Nugal region of Puntland, a semi-autonomous federal state in northeastern Somalia.

According to the Marine Traffic website, the cargo ship has continued its voyage to its reported destination in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

Piracy was rampant off the coast of Somalia in the 2000s, peaking in 2011, before being curbed by international naval deployments and new protection measures for commercial shipping.

A ferry carrying around 260 people has capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus with a search underway for survivors, according to local media.

The catamaran-style boat was travelling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, and started sinking a few kilometres off the coast of the island state on Sunday.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

[Aljazeera]

Imam ul Haq is unlikely to play the rest of Pakistan’s Lord’s Test against England after being diagnosed with a grade-1 tear in his left calf. He has been advised ten days of rest. Cricinfo has learned that Imam was taken for scans at stumps on day one of the ongoing  Test, after which the severity of the injury became clear.

Imam remained off the field after tea on the first day and has not been in action in this Test since with Salman Agha coming in as his substitute. Imam did not come out to bat in the first innings on day two, which folded inside 38 overs as Pakistan scored only 110 in reply to England’s 290.

Before the start of the second day’s play at Lord’s, the team management had said that Imam’s participation in the match depended on his treatment from a “strain to his left calf muscle”, and fast bowler Mohammad Ali sidestepped the question after stumps on day three. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about it,” he told reporters. “I am aware of his status, but the team’s medical panel is better placed to answer you better.”

Imam did come out before the start of the fourth day’s play and faced a few gentle throw-downs, with his left calf heavily strapped. He looked limited in his movements while batting and limped back after a short while with members of the support staff around him.

Imam picked up the injury while batting in the Headingley Test, which Pakistan lost by an innings and 103 runs. He needed on-field attention from the team medical panel during the first innings and had his left calf strapped over the course of his 42-run innings in which he struck a partnership worth 91 runs with Abdullah Shafique for the third wicket after which Pakistan crumbled for 171.

Imam’s likely unavailability for the second innings will be a further blow for Pakistan who are staring at a steep target to level the series with England boasting a 357-run lead after the third day. A defeat at Lord’s will give England their first Test series win since December 2024, and Pakistan’s ninth defeat in their last ten away Tests. It would also mark Pakistan’s second consecutive Test series defeat in England after the lost 1-0 on the Covid-era tour in 2020.

The third and last Test of the series begins on September 9 in Birmingham, providing enough time to Imam to recuperate from the injury.

[Cricinfo]