Somali security forces freed a Panamanian ship from pirates yesterday, officials said, two days after they killed one of the hijackers in a gun battle.

The Wail was seized by heavily armed Somali gunmen on Thursday as it carried cement to Bosasso from Oman. There are thought to be nine Syrian and two Somali crew members onboard.

"We have succeeded in saving the Panama-flagged ship and its crew," said Ali Abdi Aware, state minister for the semi-autonomous northern Puntland region. "The pirates have surrendered and the ship is in our hands now."