South Korean Commandos Rescue Crew From Somali Pirates

In a daring high-seas rescue, South Korean navy commandos today stormed a freighter that's been held hostage for a week in the Arabian Sea, killing eight Somali pirates and freeing 21 crew members.

Five other pirates were captured. The ship's captain was shot in the stomach by the pirates, but he's expected to survive, South Korea said.

"Our special forces stormed the hijacked Samho Jewelry earlier today and freed all hostages," Colonel Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for South Korea's joint chiefs of staff, told The Guardian and other reporters in Seoul. "During the operation, our forces killed some Somali pirates, and all of the hostages were confirmed alive."

South Korea's president went on national TV to laud the commandos' success and warn any pirates against trying to hijack ships in the future.

"We will not tolerate any behavior that threatens the lives and safety of our people in the future," President Lee Myung-bak said.

The South Korean president appeared to relish the chance to claim a military victory, after having been criticized for what many South Koreans saw as his weak response to two North Korean attacks last year. Lee also thanked other countries for their help in today's commando operation, but didn't name them.

Piracy is common of Somalia's coast, with hijackers kidnapping a record 1,181 hostages in 2010, according to a maritime watchdog group. But rescues like today's operation are rare.

The 11,500-ton freighter, Samho Jewelry, had been sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka when it was attacked last week. It was the second vessel from the same South Korean company, Samho Shipping, to be hijacked in the past several months. In November, a South Korean supertanker with 24 crew members was released after being held for seven months. A more than $9 million ransom was paid for the ship's freedom, sparking fears that South Korean ships might continue to be targeted.

South Korea's military had been planning today's top-secret rescue operation, code-named Dawn of Gulf of Aden, for nearly a week, the country's Yonhap news agency reported. Earlier this week, a South Korean destroyer with 300 special forces aboard began stealthily trailing the hijacked ship. Then, before dawn this morning, dozens of South Korean navy commandos zipped toward the stricken ship in speedboats, as helicopters fired warning shots. They boarded the vessel and searched systematically from compartment to compartment, killing pirates and freeing the hostages.

The confrontation took place about 800 miles off Somalia's coast, in the Arabian Sea.

The pirates put up a strong fight, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Yonhap said. There were no reports of injuries today on the South Korean side. Three soldiers suffered "light scratches on their bodies" in a previous exchange of gunfire with the pirates on Tuesday, a South Korean general told the Los Angeles Times.

The 21 crew members rescued today included eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 sailors from Myanmar. They were being evaluated by a doctor aboard the South Korean destroyer.

"I'm worried a bit about the health condition of my father, but so relieved at the news of the rescue," Lee Min-hyuk, the 14-year-old son of one of the South Korean crewmen, told Yonhap. Aside from the captain, who is recovering from his stomach wound, the rest of the crew members were reported to be healthy.