MOGADISHU, Somalia — It seems that there is a new breed of pirate out there, inland pirates, and their new quarry is trucks, not ships, carrying food.

On Monday, the United Nations World Food Program said that a pirate gang had ventured dozens of miles from shore and was holding three large trucks and their drivers who had just dropped off life-saving rations.

“It’s piracy coming on land,” said Peter Smerdon, a program spokesman. “It is the first incident of its kind, and obviously we hope it’s not to be repeated.”

The trucks were seized last week in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia that is a notorious pirate haven. According to Mr. Smerdon, the pirates were holding the trucks and their drivers hostage in Eyl, a little coastal town where several hijacked ships had been kept in recent years.