Militants in Somalia have finally freed 14 Iranian fishermen who had been in captivity in the country for the last 8 years.
The militants were set free over the Christmas weekend.
Sources revealed that Al-Shabaab militants had kept the 14 fishermen in captivity at an undisclosed location for almost a decade.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs engaged Somali officials and the terrorists in intense diplomatic efforts to get the men released.
Tribal chiefs and Somali elders also got involved in the negotiations.
The Iranian fishermen had been fishing in international waters just outside Somalia’s shores when the terrorists struck and kidnapped them in 2015.
They have already been flown to Tehran where their loved ones rushed to the airport to welcome them back.