The empty Yemeni oil tanker, named Qana, was captured on Sunday, sparking a battle with Yemeni marine troops in which two pirates were killed and one wounded.

Two Yemeni coast guards were wounded in the clash.

"Yemeni forces have freed an oil tanker that was hijacked by pirates on Sunday and 11 pirates were arrested," a statement on the defence ministry's website, www.26sep.net said, without giving details of how and when the ship was freed.

The Qana is now on its way to the Yemeni city of al-Mukalla, it said.

The tanker had been on its way to the southern port city of Aden from Al-Mohra province in eastern Yemen on Sunday when it was seized by the pirates.

Yemeni marine troops were on Sunday able to free other three commercial ships that had also been seized by pirates.

Pirates off lawless Somalia -- without an effective central government since 1991 -- have defied an increased international naval presence to step up attacks during favourable weather, seizing more than 10 vessels in April alone.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirate attacks off Somalia increased tenfold in the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2008, jumping from six to 61.

Heavily armed pirates operate high-powered speed boats and sometimes hold ships for weeks before releasing them for large ransoms paid by governments or ship owners.

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