At dawn, South Korean special forces packed into a small boat
approached a hijacked freighter in the Arabian Sea. Commandos scrambled
up a ladder onto the ship, aboard which Somali pirates were armed with
AK assault rifles and anti-tank missiles. A South Korean destroyer and
hovering Lynx helicopter provided covering fire.
When Friday's operation ended five hours later, 21 hostages had
been rescued, eight Somali pirates killed and five assailants captured.