Mogadishu, (insidesomalia.org) Mogadishu port reopened on Thursday after three days of boycott by Somali truck owners following agreement between them and Somali Prime Minster Nor Hassan Hussein Adde.

The owners were protesting the payment of taxes that the government imposed on vehicles operating at the port.

"Today the port is functioning and we are ready to work," Ali Omar, a member of the truck owners committee told APA.

"We thank and support Somali PM’s idea of reducing taxes," he added.

Meanwhile, French troops handed over nine pirates to the semi-autonomous government of Puntland on Thursday, an official told APA.

"French navy troops captured nine of Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia and handed them to Puntland authorities," Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade, a Puntland presidential advisor, told APA by phone on Thursday.

"The pirates were on board in small boats when the French navy arrested and all their equipment were dropped in the water," said Qabowsade.

Source APA