MOGADISHU, Feb 25: Pirates hijacked a UN-chartered freighter off the coast of northeastern Somalia on Sunday after the ship delivered food aid to the stricken nation.

It was the first time pirates hijacked a boat near Somalia since Ethiopian troops helped government fighters oust a powerful Islamist movement from Mogadishu late last year.

The incident has stoked fears of a new surge in once-rampant piracy.

The freighter, MV Rozen, was seized after delivering 1,800 tonnes of food aid to the towns of Bosasso and Berbera in the Somali region of Puntland, UN World Food Programme spokeswoman Stephanie Savariaud said. The vessel was headed to to its home port in Mombasa, Kenya.—AFP