Merchant sailors fight back: Pirate killed off Somalia

A pirate was killed and several others were detained after a security team thwarted an attack in waters off Somalia. The incident happened Tuesday as a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship, the MV Almezaan, was headed to Mogadishu, said the European Union Naval Force. A private security team that was on board the ship returned fire when pirates tried to attack the vessel. The security team was able to repel two attack attempts.

The EU naval force was called in, boarded the three pirate ships and detained six suspects. They also found one pirate who had died of a gunshot wound, the naval force said. No further details were immediately available about his death. The waters off the Somali coast -- the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean -- have been plagued by Somali pirates. The international community has adopted measures such as escorts and monitoring to crack down on piracy. Two cargo ships were seized in the area on Tuesday.

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Postcards from the Edge: Somalia

Somali Piracy: An Escalating Security Dilemma

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has grown exponentially in recent years. The growing trend, which is the result of a number of factors including the unstable political environment, the collapsed economy, and the presence of Islamic terror groups in Somalia. The research concludes that only a unified stance by the international community that addresses a two-part strategy can facilitate the eradication of Somali piracy. If the global actors involved do not enhance cooperation in the fight against piracy while simultaneously enacting measures to improve stability in Somalia, global commercial trade will continue to suffer from extortion, and Islamic radicalism in Somalia will continue to thrive and potentially overtake the country.

Birthed In Blood, Somali Terror Group Goes Global

In the summer of 2008, a battle raged about 300 miles south of Mogadishu. There, along the banks of the Jubba River, rival militias fought for control of a port city. After days of savage conflict, the victors danced in the bloodied streets. Four years earlier, the Islamist group Al-Shabaab, "the youth," had been just another obscure gang, thugs for hire in Somalia's civil war. Now, they were seasoned warriors, the conquerors of Kismayo.

Al-Shabaab hasn't looked back since. Today, the group aims to be a world-class terrorist outfit, recruiting fighters under the banner of religious holy war. They are more than just a local band of fanatics. They may be plotting the next 9/11. When you start to "connect the dots," (the phrase made famous by the 9/11 Commission), you find there are a lot of dots to connect Al-Shabaab is no home-grown terrorist boy's club. Various news sources report "foreign fighters" have joined their ranks, some in high-level leadership positions. That suggests that group has an international perspective and sees itself as part of the global Islamist campaign.

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Suspected Somali pirates taken to Spain

The Spanish Defense Ministry says two Somalis arrested for allegedly taking part in the hijacking of a Spanish trawler have been brought to Madrid and placed in custody. The two are suspected of helping in the Oct. 2 hijacking of the Alakrana tuna vessel with 36 crew members aboard, some 375 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.

The ship is anchored near an undisclosed Somali port while authorities work to free the ship's crew and vessel. Eleven pirates are believed to be in control of the ship.

The two detainees were captured by Spanish naval forces as they left the Alakrana in a skiff two days after the hijacking. They arrived Monday and will be brought before Judge Baltasar Garzon to face possible charges of kidnapping, criminal association and theft.

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Warships ward off Somali pirates

The number of ships captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia has dropped dramatically in the past two months because of the presence of an international flotilla of warships plying the waters there and a new willingness on the part of merchant vessels to defend themselves.

"People are acting differently, behaving differently, than they were just six months ago," said U.S. Rear Adm. Scott Sanders, commander of an anti-piracy task force in the region.

Military and shipping officials expected a spike in attacks when the monsoon season ended in early August, said Kim Hall, a Center for Naval Analyses specialist at U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.

There has only been one ship captured since then: a Spanish-flagged fishing boat with a crew of 36 seized Oct. 2. In August and September last year, pirates seized 16 ships, Navy records show. In the same period this year, no ships were seized.

Earlier this year, piracy was threatening to spiral out of control. Armed bands operating from Somalia were hijacking ships and holding crews for millions of dollars in ransom.

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Italian Organized Crime Group Allegedly Sinks Toxic Waste Ship: The Prequel

In January 2009, Johan Hari filed an opinion report for the Independent newspaper in the UK outlining dumping of toxic products off Somalia. Again the mafia was implicated. He says, in 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since – and the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, stated: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it." Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."

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Piracy Upswing Expected Off Somalia

CNN-Piracy is expected to pick up in the high seas off Somalia after a lull caused by monsoon season, maritime officials warned Monday. The Combined Maritime Forces urged crews to take up safety measures, including using recognized transit corridors in the Gulf of Aden and reporting to the European Union's security center before transit.

"The prior preparation and vigilance of merchant mariners at all times of day and night is more important now than ever," said Rear Admiral Caner Bener of the Combined Task Force. International forces made up of more than 30 ships and aircraft from 16 nations will continue patrolling the waters to help fight pirates, according to officials.

"While our ability to deter and disrupt attacks has improved over time, we are constantly adapting the way we do our business as the pirates adapt and modify their tactics," Bener said.

The waters off Somalia are rife with pirate activity, despite increased measures by military forces and shipping companies to ward off attacks. Heavily armed pirates have struck the busy Indian Ocean shipping lanes and the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. They have captured dozens of vessels and hundreds of hostages, making off with millions of dollars in ransom. The Gulf of Aden, off northern Somalia, has the highest risk of piracy in the world.

IMB Piracy Reporting Centre website

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