Did the pirates that were seized near the Seychelles islands have any hostages?
NATO forces rescued 20 fishermen from pirates who launched the latest attack in the Gulf of Aden today, but let the Somali hijackers go because they had no authority to arrest them. The release underscored the difficulties of stopping the skyrocketing piracy scourge in the Horn of Africa, where sea bandits also seized a Belgian-flagged ship carrying 10 foreign crew near the Seychelles islands and started hauling it toward Somalia. “There isn’t a silver bullet” to solve the problem, said Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House. He said it’s common for patrolling warships to disarm then free brigands because they have rarely have jurisdiction to try them. Pirate attacks have increased in recent weeks, with fishermen-turned-gunmen from Somalia searching for targets further out to sea as ships try to avoid the anarchic, clan-ruled nation. Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year alone, nearly four times the number assaulted in 2003, according to
A Seychelles coast guard boat arrested three suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean off the islands that depend heavily on tourism, state media reported Sunday.The the three men were expected in port Sunday evening aboard the Andromache. The three were on a 32-foot (10-meter) fishing boat loaded with 13 barrels of fuel, water and food but no weapons. Pirates often use larger vessels as resupply ships that tow their small, fast speedboats hundreds of miles out to sea. But European Union officials decided there was not sufficient proof to detain the men, freed them Friday and alerted Seychelles’ officials, which picked the men up Saturday.
NATO forces rescued 20 fishermen from pirates who launched the latest attack in the Gulf of Aden today, but let the Somali hijackers go because they had no authority to arrest them. The release underscored the difficulties of stopping the skyrocketing piracy scourge in the Horn of Africa, where sea bandits also seized a Belgian-flagged ship carrying 10 foreign crew near the Seychelles islands and started hauling it toward Somalia. “There isn’t a silver bullet” to solve the problem, said Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House. He said it’s common for patrolling warships to disarm then free brigands because they have rarely have jurisdiction to try them. Pirate attacks have increased in recent weeks, with fishermen-turned-gunmen from Somalia searching for targets further out to sea as ships try to avoid the anarchic, clan-ruled nation. Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year alone, nearly four times the number assaulted in 2003, according to
A Seychelles coast guard boat arrested three suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean off the islands that depend heavily on tourism, state media reported Sunday.The the three men were expected in port Sunday evening aboard the Andromache. The three were on a 32-foot (10-meter) fishing boat loaded with 13 barrels of fuel, water and food but no weapons. Pirates often use larger vessels as resupply ships that tow their small, fast speedboats hundreds of miles out to sea. But European Union officials decided there was not sufficient proof to detain the men, freed them Friday and alerted Seychelles’ officials, which picked the men up Saturday. Sources: http://www.google.
