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June 2 (Reuters) – Somali pirates hijacked a Panama-flagged cargo ship and its 24-strong crew in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, the European’s anti-piracy taskforce said.
EU NAVFOR said an American warship had seen at least one person with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on board the MV QSM Dubai.
It said the crew were from Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ghana. (Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura)
Baramullah (Jammu and Kashmir), May 12 (ANI): Security personnel busted a militant hideout and recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives in Jammu and Kashmir”s Baramullah District.
Acting on a tip off, the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and the Rashtriya Rifles personnel along with the local police carried out a joint operation on Tuesday and busted the militant hideout set up inside a cave.
“We recovered one AK 47, five Magazines, 143 rounds along with couple of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL), two Chinese pistols, 62 UBGL grenades, 50 RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) electric detonators, seven water bottles and four anti-tank mines,” said Dalip Singh, Commanding Officer, 53 Battalion.
“Inspection is still going on. These all arms, ammunitions and explosives were hidden in a plastic tank which was grounded near a mountain stream,” he added.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday admitted that the graph of militancy has risen in the region as compared to the last year.
Speaking on the sidelines of a function of former Defence personnel at Nagrota, around 25 kilometers from Jammu, Omar Abdullah attributed several reasons for this rise in the militancy while asserting that the security personnel are alert to counter the threats posed by militants.
“As compared to last year, the graph of militancy has increased this year, but this is because we are [now] getting intelligence inputs about their presence and we are trying to catch them,” said Omar Abdullah.
“Last year, we used to wait for them but now we have planned that we will not wait for their action. Whenever we will get actionable intelligence we will launch our operations,” he added. (ANI)
ATHENS, April 11 (Reuters) – Greek police have arrested six people suspected of belonging to one of the country’s most militant guerrilla groups and taking part in bomb attacks, officials said on Sunday.
The arrest of the suspected members of the Revolutionary Struggle appeared to be a major strike against groups which have stepped up attacks against police, public buildings and businesses since riots that paralysed Athens in December 2008.
“They have been arrested and will be led to the prosecutor on charges of participating in a terrorist organisation,” police spokesman Thanassis Kokkalakis told a news conference.
Kokkalakis said police found a wealth of evidence at the residence of two of those arrested, including a hard disk containing pamphlets claiming attacks by Revolutionary Struggle as well as handwritten texts about past and intended attacks.
Police said in a statement they had arrested six people, revising the number down from media reports of seven arrests.
They raided dozens of suspects’ homes over the weekend, officials said, adding they had not yet found weapons or explosives. They were investigating whether the suspects had taken part in bomb attacks claimed by other guerrilla groups.
On Sunday, about 60 leftists threw stones and plastic bottles at police who raided a home in central Athens. Police fired tear gas to disperse them.
Revolutionary Struggle emerged in September 2003, about a year after the capture of the urban guerrilla group November 17.
It attempted to kill a minister in 2006 and launched a rocket-propelled grenade against the U.S Embassy in Athens in 2007, causing minor damage and no injuries.
It reappeared weeks the police killing of a teenager in December 2008, claiming responsibility for shooting at riot police guarding the culture ministry which left one wounded.
Greece’s socialist government, elected in an October snap election, has made combating guerrilla groups a priority. (Reporting by Dina Kyriakidou and Renee Maltezou; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Andrew Roche)
(Reuters) – A video showing U.S. Apache helicopters killing 12 people, including two Reuters news staff, is painful to watch but an investigation into the attack was very thorough, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday.
Barack Obama
“It’s unfortunate. It’s clearly not helpful. But by the same token, I think — think it should not have any lasting consequences,” Gates said of the 2007 videotape when interviewed on the ABC News “This Week” program.
The U.S. forces involved were in combat, he said, and were operating in “split-second situations.”
The stark helicopter gunsight video of the July 12, 2007, attack has been widely viewed around the world on the Internet since its release on April 5 by the group Wikileaks, which promotes leaks to fight government and corporate corruption.
Some international law and human rights experts say the Apache helicopter crew in the footage may have acted illegally. The video includes an audio track of a helicopter crew conversation. Many have been shocked by the images and some of the fliers’ comments.
“It’s obviously a hard thing to see. It’s painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. But you — you talked about the fog of war. These people were operating in split-second situations,” Gates said.
The U.S. military said an investigation shortly after the incident found that U.S. forces were unaware of the presence of news staff and thought they were engaging armed insurgents, mistaking a camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
The Reuters staff killed in the attack were photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chamagh, 40.
“We’ve investigated it very thoroughly,” Gates said on ABC. The military’s Central Command said last week it had no plans to open a new investigation.
David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, said: “I urge the secretary of defense to meet with me to help ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. We need to have transparency, accountability and an acknowledgment of the vital role journalists play in telling the story of war.”
Asked by ABC whether the release of the video would damage America’s image abroad, Gates said: “I don’t think so.”
“They’re — they’re in a combat situation. The video doesn’t show the broader picture of the — of the firing that was going on at American troops.”
Wikileaks said it obtained the video from military whistleblowers and posted it at www.collateralmurder.com.
Amnesty International called on Wednesday for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the incident shown in the video.
(Writing by Susan Cornwell, Editing by Howard Goller)
WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) – A video showing U.S. Apache helicopters killing 12 people, including two Reuters news staff, is painful to watch but an investigation into the attack was very thorough, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday.
“It’s unfortunate. It’s clearly not helpful. But by the same token, I think — think it should not have any lasting consequences,” Gates said of the 2007 videotape when interviewed on the ABC News “This Week” program.
The U.S. forces involved were in combat, he said, and were operating in “split-second situations.”
The stark helicopter gunsight video of the July 12, 2007, attack has been widely viewed around the world on the Internet since its release on April 5 by the group Wikileaks, which promotes leaks to fight government and corporate corruption.
Some international law and human rights experts say the Apache helicopter crew in the footage may have acted illegally. The video includes an audio track of a helicopter crew conversation. Many have been shocked by the images and some of the fliers’ comments.
“It’s obviously a hard thing to see. It’s painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. But you — you talked about the fog of war. These people were operating in split-second situations,” Gates said.
The U.S. military said an investigation shortly after the incident found that U.S. forces were unaware of the presence of news staff and thought they were engaging armed insurgents, mistaking a camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
The Reuters staff killed in the attack were photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chamagh, 40.
“We’ve investigated it very thoroughly,” Gates said on ABC. The military’s Central Command said last week it had no plans to open a new investigation.
David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, said: “I urge the secretary of defense to meet with me to help ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. We need to have transparency, accountability and an acknowledgment of the vital role journalists play in telling the story of war.”
Asked by ABC whether the release of the video would damage America’s image abroad, Gates said: “I don’t think so.”
“They’re — they’re in a combat situation. The video doesn’t show the broader picture of the — of the firing that was going on at American troops.”
Wikileaks said it obtained the video from military whistleblowers and posted it at www.collateralmurder.com.
Amnesty International called on Wednesday for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the incident shown in the video.
(Writing by Susan Cornwell, Editing by Howard Goller)
The White House has described a graphic leaked video of a US helicopter strike in Baghdad three years ago, which killed two Reuters employees and others, as “tragic”.
After the previously classified video was released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks, president Barack Obama’s spokesman Robert Gibbs stressed that US forces in war zones take pains to avoid civilian casualties.
The gun camera footage, posted on the internet, includes audio conversations between Apache helicopter gunship pilots and controllers in which they identify the men in a Baghdad street as armed insurgents and ask for permission to open fire.
“I do not know whether the president has seen the video that was released on the internet. Obviously, it is very graphic in nature and it’s extremely tragic,” Mr Gibbs said.
“Our military will take every precaution necessary to ensure the safety and security of civilians, and particularly those that report in those dangerous places on behalf of news organisations.”
Mr Gibbs referred all questions about investigations into the July 2007 incident to the Pentagon.
WikiLeaks said it had obtained the video “from a number of military whistleblowers” and decrypted it. It posted the video at collateralmurder.org.
The footage shows an aerial view of a number of men on a Baghdad street, including two later identified as Reuters employees Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh.
At least two individuals in the video appear to be carrying weapons but most are unarmed.
The Apache pilots also appear to mistake a camera carried by one of the Reuters employees as a rocket-propelled grenade launcher (RPG).
At one point, the pilots tell controllers they have spotted “five to six individuals with AK-47s” and ask for permission to “engage”.
The pilots open fire with the helicopter’s cannon after which one says there are a “bunch of bodies lying there”.
“Look at those dead bastards,” one says. Another replies: “Nice.”
Shortly after the initial shooting, a van pulls up to pick up the dead and wounded and is fired upon by the Apaches.
Two children in the van were injured and evacuated by US ground troops who arrived later on the scene.
A US military official did not dispute the authenticity of the video but said it “doesn’t give new information, it just gives footage”.
“We had insurgents and reporters in an area where US forces were about to be ambushed,” the official added.
“At the time we weren’t able to discern whether [the Reuters employees] were carrying cameras or weapons.”
London, March 16 (ANI): Lance Corporal Craig Lundberg was blinded by a grenade in Iraq but new technology has helped him to “see” with his tongue.
Lundberg, 24, who lost his sight when he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade while serving in Basra in 2007, can read words, identify shapes and walk unaided thanks to the BrainPort device.
A resident of Walton, Liverpool, he now plays blind football for England.
Life could have been bleak and dismal for Lundberg but everything changed when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) chose him to be the first person to try the BrainPort.
The BrainPort changes visual images into a sequence of electrical pulses, which are sent to the tongue. The varying strength of the tingles can be read or interpreted helping the user to mentally visualise their surroundings and navigate around objects.
The device comprises a tiny video camera attached to a pair of sunglasses linked to a plastic “lolly pop” which the user places on their tongue to decipher the electrical pulses.
“It feels like licking a nine volt battery or like popping candy,” the Independent quoted Lundberg, as saying.
He went on: “The camera sends signals down onto the lolly pop and onto your tongue. You can then determine what they mean and transfer it to shapes.
“You get lines and shapes of things. It sees in black and white so you get a two-dimensional image on your tongue – it”s a bit like a pins and needles sensation.
“It”s only a prototype, but the potential to change my life is massive. It”s got a lot of potential to advance things for blind people.
“One of the things it has enabled me to do is pick up objects straight away. I can reach out and pick them up when before I would be fumbling around to feel for them.
“There is no way I”m getting rid of my guide dog Hugo, though – I love him.
“This is another mobility device, it”s not the be-all and end-all of my disability.”
Unveiling the BrainPort at the MoD headquarters in Whitehall, US Major General Gale Pollock, who worked on the scheme, said: “It”s just so exciting to finally be able to say to people: here is a tool that may help you and start to restore hope to the visually impaired community. It”s just wonderful.”
Group Captain Rob Scott, who is Lundberg”s eye doctor, said: “It is certainly a device with absolutely huge potential.
“The BrainPort is a device that effectively lets blind people see through their tongue. What it uses is electro-tactile stimulation as a sensory substitution for vision.
“It allows an image of their surroundings to be experienced and helps find your way about a place. It is designed to help orientation in an unfamiliar environment.” (ANI)
New Delhi, June 28 (ANI): The UPA Government has reportedly asked the Left Front government in West Bengal to declare the CPI (Maoist) an “unlawful association” and ban it under a 1908 Act.
Home Ministry officials have advised the West Bengal government to outlaw the CPI (Maoist) because the UAP Act, under which it declared the outfit as banned on June 22, is essentially directed against unlawful associations that support secession.
“The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908 (CLAA) has a very different objective. It is directed against associations, which encourage or aid person to commit acts of violence or intimidation. The power is vested in the state government to declare an association as unlawful,” a Home Ministry official said.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had said last week that the state government should ban the Maoists.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the state government would enforce the Central ban, which reluctant Left Front partners also accepted after some persuasion by Bhattacharjee.
The Central Government advisory comes a day after security forces captured Ramgarh, an area under Maoists in a two-sided attack to reclaim areas in West Midnapore district.
Security forces had to face stiff resistance as Maoists had detonated landmines and opened gunfire.
Security forces headed from Lalgarh in the south and Kadasole in north on Friday, towards Ramgarh.
Ten companies consisting of 1000 men of the CRPF, the India Reserve Battalion and Rapid Action Force set out from Kadasole. They had to counter firing and three landmine explosions Maoists.
In response to the Maoist attacks, the security forces struck back with AK-47s, mortars and rocket propelled grenade launchers, the officer said.
A mine detection unit and a team from the District Intelligence Bureau preceded the security forces, which also comprised jungle warfare experts of the CRPF.
Maoists also burnt down an office of the All India Trade Union Congress, when they were not allowed to take refuge in the building shortly before the security forces entered Ramgarh. (ANI)
Ramgarh, June 27 (ANI): Security forces on Saturday captured Ramgarh, an area under Maoists in a two-sided attack to reclaim areas in West Midnapore district.
“We have secured Ramgarh. We will establish a police outpost and a camp. The police will restore normalcy. The operations will continue,” said Inspector General CID (special operations group) Siddhinath Gupta.
Security forces had to face stiff resistance as Maoists had detonated landmines and opened gunfire.
Security forces headed from Lalgarh in the south and Kadasole in north on Friday, towards Ramgarh on Saturday morning, a senior CRPF officer said.
Ten companies consisting of 1000 men of the CRPF, the India Reserve Battalion and Rapid Action Force set out from Kadasole. They had to counter firing and three landmine explosions Maoists. n response to the Maoist attacks, the security forces struck back with AK-47s, mortars and rocket propelled grenade launchers, the officer said.
A mine detection unit and a team from the District Intelligence Bureau preceded the security forces, which also comprised jungle warfare experts of the CRPF.
Maoists also burnt down an office of the All India Trade Union Congress, when they were not allowed to take refuge in the building shortly before the security forces entered Ramgarh. (ANI)
Kabul- US and Afghan troops killed 29 suspected militants, including six wound-be suicide bombers, in a clash and airstrike in south-eastern Afghanistan, the US military said Thursday.
The operation in Paktika province’s Wor Mamay district began when the joint forces targeted a compound used by a “senior” militant leader identified only as Sangeen, the US military said in a statement. It accused him of operating the compound as a staging area for future attacks in the province.
Several militants were killed in face-to-face combat as well as from their own explosives while the rest were killed when the US-Afghan forces called in an airstrike against the militants’ firing positions, it said.
“During the assault, at least six enemies detonated suicide vests, killing only themselves,” it said, adding that one coalition soldier received minor wounds in a blast.
The statement did not say whether Sangeen, who is also known as Fateh and is accused of involvement in numerous attacks in eastern Afghanistan, was among those killed in the operation.
Hamidullah Zewak, a spokesman for Paktika’s governor, confirmed the incident but gave a higher death toll for the militants. He said 34 insurgents were killed and their bodies were still lying on the battlefield.
Because of remoteness of the area and security concerns in the district that borders neighbouring Pakistan, it was difficult to verify the death toll independently.
The US military statement also said weapons caches containing rocket-propelled grenade launchers, ammunition, AK-47 assault rifles, heavy machine guns and suicide vests were discovered at the targeted compound while Zewak said four vehicles and 25 motorbikes were also seized.
Taliban-led violence is on the rise in Afghanistan despite the presence of more than 70,000 international troops deployed from 42 nations.
The US military, which already provides more than half the foreign forces in the country, has ordered the deployment of 21,000 additional forces this summer. (dpa)
London, Apr 23 (ANI): British Sergeant Alan Dennis, who has been dubbed “indestructable Den”, is the man the Taliban just can’t kill, and he is proud to point this out after being blown up for a second time.
Two years ago, this career soldier (35) escaped from the wreckage of his Land Rover following a roadside bomb attack that killed a comrade sitting alongside.
Now, he’s cheated death again in Afghanistan following a rocket-propelled grenade attack that buried him under rubble, the Daily Express reported.
Last night as he recovered at the Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, the father of two from Melbourne, Derbys, played down his heroics, but admitted he was a lucky guy.
Dennis spent months recovering before his regiment, The Mercians, returned to Helmand last month.
This time he came under heavy fire from Taliban armed with RPGs, but his good luck did not desert him.
The grenade exploded in front of him and sent him flying but he leaped up with a broken arm and ran for cover under a hail of bullets. He grabbed his rifle and returned fire until his men were safe.
Speaking from hospital, he said: “I remember hearing the bang of the RPG, as it landed about five feet in front of me, and being thrown back by the blast.”
Nine men died during the unit’s last deployment when he survived the road blast. (ANI)
Kabul – Afghan and international forces killed 40 suspected Taliban militants in the latest clashes in southern and eastern Afghanistan, while a suicide bomber killed himself and wounded a civilian in the northern region, officials said Sunday. The police chief of Afghanistan’s restive southern Zabul province claimed Sunday that Afghan forces backed by US-led coalition air support killed 22 suspected insurgents in a clash.
The militants ambushed a convoy of Afghan soldiers and international troops in the province’s Shinkay district on Saturday night, sparking a fierce battle that lasted for four hours, Abdul Rahman Sarjang, the provincial police chief said.
Shortly after the battle erupted, Afghan police forces and coalition aircraft joined the fight and killed 22 insurgents, Sarjang said.
“The bodies of the militants are still on the battlefield and four of them have been identified to be Pakistani nationals,” he said, adding there were no casualties on the joint forces side.
The US military in a statement also said US troops killed four insurgents in Shinkay on Saturday but it was not clear if both Sarjang and the military statement were referring to the same incident.
Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi said that only three of their fighters were killed in the gunbattle, but claimed that Taliban fighters killed 48 Afghan and international soldiers.
Due to the remoteness of the area, it was difficult to get independent verification of the conflicting accounts.
Meanwhile, NATO-led forces in the eastern province of Kunar killed 18 suspected militants in a clash in which close-air support and attack helicopters were also used on Saturday, the alliance said in a statement.
The NATO forces seized 10 AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers with ammunition, five radios and two hand grenades, the statement said, adding there were no casualties on the military side.
Separately, the first suicide attack since the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001 happened in the relatively peaceful province of Samangan province on Sunday, police chief Sharafuddin Sharaf said.
He said a bomber tried to enter the governor’s office in Aibak, the provincial capital city, but his explosive-filled vest detonated prematurely in front of the government building, he said.
“The bomber who seems to be a boy of around 16 years was killed and a woman was wounded,” he said, adding that the attack happened when the provincial governor was meeting with other local authorities.
In the south-eastern province of Khost, Afghan commando forces discovered and disabled a vehicle packed with explosives intended for use in a car bombing, the US military statement said.
The vehicle was left by the side of a road in Sabari district of the province, it said.
Police forces in the Garmsir district of the southern Helmand province identified and killed a would-be suicide bomber, who was approaching a police station on Saturday, the interior ministry said in statement.
The blast, which was triggered by the explosives-filled vest killed the bomber, but caused no other casualties, it said.
More than seven years since the fall of Taliban regime after the US military invasion, Taliban militants are still a force to be reckoned with.
The insurgents have gained more strength in the past three years, forcing the US government to plan the deployment of 21,000 additional combat troops and military trainers to contain the insurgency this year.
New forces will bring to 90,000 the number of international troops deployed to Afghanistan from 42 nations. (dpa)
ON BOARD NRB CORTE-REAL (Reuters) – Somali pirates attacked a 26,000-tonne, Panama-flagged bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, but were driven away by sailors spraying them with water-hoses, NATO alliance staff said.
The NATO officials, on board a Portuguese warship protecting shipping lanes from piracy, said an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade landed in the commanding officer’s cabin during the attack and bullets were fired at the ship.
The pirates left after water hoses were turned on them, NATO staff officer Stephan Gresmak said.
“They looked for an easier target,” he told a Reuters reporter on the Portuguese ship NRB Corte-Real.
Eight pirates, armed with AK-47s, were on board the skiff that attacked the MV Anatolia soon after daybreak in the southwest corner of the Gulf of Aden, the officials said.
The Anatolia also used evasive steering to escape.
“It was on later inspection the Commanding Officer saw the bullet holes in the superstructure (outer skin) of the ship,” Gresmak said. “The Commanding Officer reported an unexploded RPG round in his cabin to the UK Maritime Shipping Center, and they advised not to touch it.”
Somalis wreaked havoc in the Gulf of Aden last year, but due to increased naval patrols there have mainly moved operations this year into the Indian Ocean.
(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne)
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali elders sought to mediate on Saturday between the U.S. navy and pirates holding an American hostage in a high-seas standoff that presents President Barack Obama with a nasty new dilemma.
Four pirates adrift in a lifeboat far out in the Indian Ocean with Richard Phillips, the 53-year-old American captain of a cargo ship they tried to seize on Wednesday, have demanded $2 million for his release and a guarantee of their own safety.
With three U.S. warships in the area, the elders and relatives of the pirates holding Phillips, a father-of-two from rural Vermont, are planning a mediation mission to try to avoid bloodshed, a regional maritime group said.
“They are just looking to arrange safe passage for the pirates, no ransom,” group coordinator Andrew Mwangura said.
French special forces stormed a yacht held by pirates elsewhere in the lawless stretch of the Indian Ocean on Friday in an assault that killed one hostage, but freed four.
Two pirates were killed and three captured.
On Saturday pirates seized another vessel, a U.S.-owned, Italian-flagged tugboat with 10 Italians among its 16-member crew, NATO alliance officials on a warship in the region said.
Earlier, attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the cabin of the commanding officer of another ship in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen. They also fired bullets.
The grenade did not explode and the ship’s crew managed to repel the attackers with water hoses, the NATO officials said.
A U.S. military official said the destroyer USS Bainbridge was near the lifeboat and had been joined by the USS Boxer, the flagship of a U.S.-led multinational counterpiracy task force.
The Boxer, which has a crew of about 1,000 and can carry around 2,000 U.S. Marines, is equipped with a hospital and dozens of attack planes and helicopters.
The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton is also nearby.
“VERY DETERMINED GUY”
At one point, Phillips tried to escape the lifeboat by jumping overboard, but was quickly recaptured.
Relatives and friends told the New York Times he was a generous, wryly funny but “very determined guy” who played the saxophone and did household chores when not at sea.
The military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said crew members from the USS Bainbridge had seen Phillips moving and talking aboard the life boat after his failed escape.
The Bainbridge launched monitoring drones and kept radio contact with the pirates. A U.S. official said it was seeking a peaceful outcome and FBI experts were providing advice.
“What continues to be our No. 1 priority is the safe and healthy return of the captain,” said Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Major Stewart Upton.
Pirates on a German 20,000-tonne container vessel with 24 foreign hostages gave up an attempt to use the ship as a “shield” to reach the lifeboat holding Phillips.
“We have come back to Haradheere coast. We could not locate the lifeboat,” one pirate on the German ship the Hansa Stavanger, who identified himself as Suleiman, told Reuters.
Relatives of Phillips have said he volunteered to get in the lifeboat with the pirates in exchange for the safety of his crew, who regained control of the 17,000-tonne, Danish-owned Maersk Alabama, on Wednesday.
The ship, carrying food relief to Kenya, was due into Kenya’s Mombasa port late on Saturday.
Phillips is one of about 260 hostages being held by Somali pirates preying on the busy sea lanes of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
There are more Filipinos than any other nationality and the pirates are keeping about 17 captured vessels at or near lairs like Eyl, Hobyo and Haradheere on Somalia’s eastern coast — six of them taken in the last week alone.
“Once again, it has taken American involvement to get world powers really interested,” said a diplomat who tracks Somalia from Nairobi. “I hope they don’t forget the Filipinos and all the others, once this guy is released.”
The standoff has forced Obama to focus on a place most Americans would rather forget. Perched on the Horn of Africa, Somalia has suffered 18 years of conflict since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Americans remember with a shudder the disastrous U.S.-U.N. intervention there soon after, including the infamous “Black Hawk Down” battle in 1993 when 18 U.S. troops were killed in a 17-hour firefight that was later made into a hit movie.
DEFIANT
The gang holding Phillips remained defiant despite the arrival of U.S. and other naval ships close. “We will defend ourselves if attacked,” one told Reuters by satellite phone.
Somalia’s Islamist insurgent movement al Shabaab, which is on Washington’s list of terrorist organizations, lambasted the international naval patrols and said no money should be paid.
“You are the ones who are the pirates. Leave our waters. You will be defeated, whatever you can do. And you will regret anything you pay as a ransom,” al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Muktar Robow Mansoor told reporters.
Al Shabaab has denied any links with the pirates.
In France, the government stood by its raid to free the yacht, which was hijacked en route to Zanzibar last weekend with two couples and a 3-year-old child aboard.
“During the operation, a hostage sadly died,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office. But it said the president “confirms France’s determination not to give in to blackmail and to defeat the pirates.”
Last year there were 42 ship hijackings off Somalia, which disrupted shipping, delayed food aid to East Africa and raised insurance costs. Some cargo ships have been diverted to travel around South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal.
(Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu, Abdiqani Hassan in Bosasso, Daniel Wallis in Mombasa, Alison Bevege on board the NRB Corte-Real, Andrew Gray and Anthony Boadle in Washington, William Maclean in London and Andrew Cawthorne in Nairobi; writing by Andrew Cawthorne; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali elders sought to mediate on Saturday between the U.S. navy and pirates holding an American hostage in a high-seas standoff that presents President Barack Obama with a nasty new dilemma.
Four pirates adrift in a lifeboat far out in the Indian Ocean with Richard Phillips, the 53-year-old American captain of a cargo ship they tried to seize on Wednesday, have demanded $2 million for his release and a guarantee of their own safety.
He is one of about 260 hostages now being held by the swelling numbers of pirates from lawless Somalia who prey on the busy sea lanes of the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
With three U.S. warships in the area, Somali elders and relatives of the pirates holding the Vermont father-of-two plan a mediation mission in the hope of avoiding bloodshed, said a regional organization that monitors piracy.
“They are just looking to arrange safe passage for the pirates, no ransom,” said group coordinator Andrew Mwangura.
Pirates seized another vessel on Saturday, a U.S.-owned, Italian-flagged tugboat with 10 Italians and six others on board, NATO alliance officials on a warship in the region said.
Earlier, attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the cabin of the commanding officer of another ship in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen. They also fired bullets.
The grenade did not explode and the ship’s crew managed to repel the attackers with water hoses, the NATO officials said.
On Friday French special forces stormed a yacht held by pirates elsewhere in the lawless stretch of the Indian Ocean in an assault that killed one hostage, but freed four.
Two of the pirates were killed and three captured.
WARSHIPS CLOSE IN
A U.S. military official said the destroyer Bainbridge was near the lifeboat and had been joined by the Boxer, the flagship of a U.S.-led multinational counterpiracy task force which has a crew of about 1,000 and dozens of attack planes and helicopters.
The guided U.S. missile frigate Halyburton was also nearby.
At one point, Phillips tried to escape by jumping overboard but was “didn’t get very far,” a U.S. official said.
The Bainbridge launched monitoring drones and kept radio contact with the pirates.
“What continues to be our number one priority is the safe and healthy return of the captain,” said a Pentagon spokesman.
The gang holding Phillips remained defiant. “We will defend ourselves if attacked,” one told Reuters by satellite phone.
Pirates on a 20,000-tonne German container vessel with 24 hostages gave up an attempt to use the ship as a “shield” to protect the lifeboat holding Phillips.
“We have come back to Haradheere coast. We could not locate the lifeboat,” one pirate on the German ship the Hansa Stavanger, who identified himself as Suleiman, told Reuters.
Relatives said Phillips had volunteered to get in the lifeboat with the pirates in exchange for the safety of his crew, who regained control of the 17,000-tonne, Danish-owned Maersk Alabama, on Wednesday.
The ship was due to dock in Kenya’s Mombasa port on Saturday with its cargo of food relief.
Filipinos make up the largest contingent of all the hostages. Pirates are keeping about 17 captured vessels around lairs like Eyl, Hobyo and Haradheere on Somalia’s eastern coast — six taken in the last week alone.
“Once again, it has taken American involvement to get world powers really interested,” said a diplomat who tracks Somalia from Nairobi. “I hope they don’t forget the Filipinos and all the others once this guy is released.”
The standoff has forced Obama to focus on a place most Americans would rather forget. Perched on the Horn of Africa, Somalia has suffered 18 years of conflict since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Americans remember with a shudder the disastrous U.S.-U.N. intervention there soon after, including the infamous “Black Hawk Down” battle in 1993 when 18 U.S. troops were killed.
FRANCE DEFENDS RAID
In Somalia’s semi-autonomous northern Puntland region, which prides itself on its relative stability, a court sentenced 10 pirates to 20 years in prison on Saturday for attacking a Syrian-registered ship in October 2008.
But piracy seems sure to go on while Somalia stays in chaos.
Insurance premiums have risen and some shippers just avoid the area, sending cargoes round South Africa to Europe instead of through the Gulf of Aden into the Suez Canal.
Somalia’s Islamist insurgent movement al Shabaab, on Washington’s list of terrorist organizations, lambasted the international naval patrols aimed at keeping ships safe.
“You are the ones who are the pirates. Leave our waters. You will be defeated,” said a spokesman. The group denies it has links with the pirates, most of whom used to be poor fishermen.
The French government stood by its raid to free the yacht hijacked en route to Zanzibar last weekend with two couples and a 3-year-old child aboard.
“During the operation, a hostage sadly died,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office. But it said the president “confirms France’s determination not to give in to blackmail and to defeat the pirates.”
Piracy has been growing for years but hit headlines in 2008 with the world’s largest sea hijack of a Saudi tanker carrying $100 million of oil — and for taking a Ukrainian ship with a huge military cargo including 33 tanks.
(Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu, Abdiqani Hassan in Bosasso, Abdiaziz Hassan in Nairobi, Daniel Wallis in Mombasa, Alison Bevege on board the NRB Corte-Real, Andrew Gray and Anthony Boadle in Washington, William Maclean in London and Andrew Cawthorne in Nairobi; writing by Andrew Cawthorne; editing by Richard Meares)
Kabul, April 6 (Xinhua) Fourteen militants have been killed by the Afghan army and US-led coalition forces in Qalat district in southern Afghanistan, the army said in a statement here.
‘The Afghan National Army (ANA) led force conducted a combat reconnaissance patrol in an area of known militant presence when they were attacked by armed militants with heavy small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire,’ it said Sunday.
It added that ‘after positively identifying the armed militants, the combined element returned fire with small-arms and close air support, killing 14 militants.’
The combined forces also discovered a cache of improvised explosive device making materials and several explosives which were destroyed by the ANA, it said. ‘No coalition forces or civilian casualties were reported during this operation.’
One Thai soldier was killed and seven others wounded on Friday in fighting with Cambodian troops near a disputed Hindu temple on their border, a Thai general said.
Second Army commander Wiboonsak Neepan told Reuters the soldier died from a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Cambodian troops in an afternoon clash near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.
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