United States navy, USS Ashland has held five men whom they suspect to be pirates responsible for the series of hijackings that are being carried out in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The incident occurred  after a Turkish bulk carrier, Yasin C, was hijacked on Wednesday, by the pirates, some 250 miles east of Mombasa. Later the ship was abandoned by the hijackers, and  there is no reports of harm to  passengers in the incident. This is only one of the incidents that have been plaguing the navy in the region, where pirate activity has been constantly on the rise.

The suspected pirates captured the ship on Saturday, some 300 nautical miles off the Djibouti coast. After the six people began to fire at the amphibious USS Ashland from their skiff. The skiff went up in flames when the navy ship also returned fire. All the six men were rescued from the waters, and were taken on board the navy ship. They were carried over to the USS Ashland in inflatable rigid hull boats, where they were given immediate medical assistance.