Security forces of the northeastern Somali region on Tuesday freed an abducted ship carrying commercial goods for Somali business people after a gun battle with pirates off the coast of Somalia, local official said.

"After long gun fight, our forces were able to overpower the pirates and take over the ship which is now heading for the port of Bossaso," Farah Ali, regional deputy minister for national security, told Xinhua.

Ali said that there were casualties on both sides but declined to give figures.

The ship, laden with commercial goods for local business people, was abducted this week off Somali coast as it tried to dock at the port of Bossaso where piracy and hostage taking has been rampant.

Somali pirates do not usually target at locally chartered ships carrying goods for the war-torn Horn of Africa country.

This is the second time the local security forces were able to free an abducted ship from pirates who are often better trained and well equipped than the local forces.

Somalia, which has been through nearly two decades of civil conflicts, does not have a navy or air force to tackle growing menace of piracy.

Foreign countries have been authorized by UN Security Council Resolution this month to send warships to fight piracy and armed robbery in Somali territorial waters, one of the most dangerous waterways in the world.

Dozens of foreign ships are being held hostage by pirates off the northeastern Somali coast, including a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 Russian made tanks. The pirates demand ransoms for the release of the ships and their crews.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2008)