Twenty-two hostages held captive for nearly three years by Somali pirates have been rescued by troops who raided a hijacked ship.

Forces of Somalia's Puntland region captured the Panama-flagged MV Iceberg 1 which was docked near the Gara'ad coastal village in Mudung region.

The rescued crew members include eight Yemenis, five Indians, two Pakistanis, four Ghanaians, two Sudanese, and a Philippine, officials said. The ship was hijacked on March 29, 2010.

Close to 120 seafarers are still held by Somali pirates, though that number is considerably down from the height of the piracy crisis two years ago, when more than 600 hostages were held at once.

Hijackings by Somali pirates have significantly reduced in the last couple of years because many ships now carry armed guards and there is an international naval armada that carries out onshore raids.