Medeshi ,October 13, 2008Failed Raid on Hijacked Ship off Somalia
Interesting report this morning from the AP.
Somali forces raided one of the many ships hijacked off the country's coast Sunday as a deadline loomed in a standoff aboard another, arms-laden vessel, officials said.
Troops in northern Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region unsuccessfully tried to take back a ship that was taken over by pirates on Thursday, said Ali Abdi Aware, Puntland's foreign minister. He said two pirates were killed.
The vessel, which carrying cement, is believed to have Syrian and Somali crew on board.
"Our forces are chasing the ship and we hope to rescue it," Aware said in a telephone interview from Puntland, a hotbed of piracy.
Someone in Puntland has the political will to take action against pirates, but it would appear the capabilities to be successful against pirates are lacking. Potential opportunity for coalition forces, and by that I mean training opportunity to engage with local Puntland Coast Guard authorities. Cooperation with the local government is part of the long term solution.
Reuters reports the ship is the Panama-flagged ship Wail, which was hijacked on Friday. None of the reporting to date suggests where the action took place, but it was likely in the northern region near Bosasso based on where the hijacking took place and
