EU Forces Conduct Their First Mainland Raid In Somalia

Up to 10 European Union ships are on patrol off the Horn of Africa

Somali Piracy: EU Forces In First Mainland Raid -- BBC

EU naval forces have conducted their first raid on pirate bases on the Somali mainland, saying they have destroyed several boats.

The EU forces were transported by helicopter to the pirate bases near the port of Haradhere.

Anti-piracy forces have been reluctant to attack mainland bases, fearing for the crew of captured ships.

Somalia-based pirates have seized vessels across the Indian Ocean and demand huge ransoms for their release.

They are believed to be holding about 17 ships and 300 crew.

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My Comment: One has to wonder what took the EU so long to react.

More Prisons For More Somali Pirates

New Pirate Prison In Somalia Aims To Relieve International Overload -- CNN

Somali pirates captured on the high seas and prosecuted in other countries are now being transferred to a new prison in Somalia. It's a significant change for countries combating piracy but are seeing their own jail systems overwhelmed as the U.S. and other countries continue to catch and turn over pirates to countries willing to prosecute them.

The prison, located in the self-governed northern part of Somalia, accepted its first detainees at the end of March, according to U.S. State Department officials. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime is paying for the transport and the prison facility, according to U.S. State Department officials.

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My Comment: Will these new prisons deter Somalis from piracy .... I doubt it, especially after reading this paragraph from this CNN report ....

.... "The pirates know what the odds are when they get into the business - four out of 10 pirates that go out on the water die. With that mindset, prosecution is not going to be a deterrent," Bruton said.

Indeed.

EU Approves Attacks On Somali Pirate Land Bases

Somalia Pirates: EU Approves Attacks On Land Bases -- BBC

he European Union has agreed to expand its mission against Somali pirates, by allowing military forces to attack land targets as well as those at sea.

In a two-year extension of its mission, EU defence ministers agreed warships could target boats and fuel dumps.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says the move is a significant step-up in operations, but one that also risks escalation.

Up to 10 EU naval ships are currently on patrol off the Horn of Africa.

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More News On The EU Expanding operations Against Somali Pirates

Inland Somali pirate bases to be targeted -- The Telegraph
EU extends range of its anti-piracy patrols, allowing strikes inside Somalia -- Washington Post/AP
EU authorises warships to hit Somali pirate lairs -- AFP
EU Navy cleared to attack pirates on land -- Global Post
EU ships to hit Somali pirates' land bases -- Defence Management
EU extends Somalia counter-piracy operation by two years -- Reuters
EU Extends Counter-piracy Operations Off Somalia By Two More Years -- RTT News
EU to back strikes on Somali pirates -- News24

Why Somalia's Piracy Problem Will Not Go Away

Somalia's Piracy Problem: Robbery on the High Seas Too Lucrative to Refuse -- Spiegel Online

There are hundreds of pirates serving time in prisons in northern Somalia. But for every one arrested, there are several people willing to fill the gap. A visit to a pirate jail reveals that, despite the risks, many Somalis are still being drawn to the sea by dreams of ransom, revenge and repute.

Omar Abdullahi, 45, knew the patrol boat routes. He knew the coast guard's equipment, and he knew their salaries were a meager $45 (€32) a month. That was all he made, too, despite being head of the Las Qoray outpost. At sea, he saw how easily the pirates in their fast boats got away from his fellow coast guardsmen. And, on land, he saw how they could afford expensive cars and fancy houses.

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My Comment: Yup .... it's all about the money, coupled with little if any risk.

Somalia's Continuing Piracy Threat Against International Shipping

On The High Seas -- The Economist

EUROPEAN and NATO naval forces together with an assortment of fighting ships from other navies including China, Russia, Indonesia, Phillippines and elsewhere were supposed to disrupt piracy in the Indian Ocean and bring the number of ships being seajacked there under control. That has not happened. According to Ecoterra, a Kenya-based group which tracks Somali piracy, 24 foreign-flagged vessels are presently being held hostage in Somalia with a total of 434 hostages on board. The Europeans do not include Yemeni and Iranian vessels in their count: they say there are 17 foreign-flagged vessels with 369 hostages anchored off Somalia.

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More News On Somalia's Piracy Problem

Kenya takes in more piracy suspects from US Navy -- Reuters
Nine more taken to court as trials on piracy continue -- Daily Nation
UN Piracy Chief: More Countries Should Help Kenya Try Pirates -- Voice of America
Hijacked Japanese ship spotted at Somali pirate port -- AFP
Pirates seize Japanese ship with 20 Filipino sailors: EU -- AFP
Pirates seize ship with crew of 20 off African coast -- CNN
Somali pirates free Puntland minister -- BBC
Somali pirates free kidnapped government minister -- AP
Somali pirates kidnap Puntland minister -- Press TV
Somali Puntland Government Vows It Will Fight Pirates -- All Headline News
Brits plan private navy to fight pirates -- UPI
Anti-piracy petition gets 930,000 signatures -- Marine Log
Sailors call for urgent global action to halt piracy -- BBC
Terrorism Out of Somalia -- Carnegie Endowment
Analysis: Missed opportunities in Somalia -- IRIN
Over the Horizon: Piracy, Metrics, and Strategy -- Robert Farley, World Politics Review
FACTBOX-Ships held by Somali pirates -- Reuters

Somali Piracy News Updates -- November 18, 2009

Somali Pirates Attack U.S.-Flagged Ship for Second Time -- FOX News

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.

A U.S. surveillance plane was monitoring the ship as it continued to its destination on the Kenyan coast, while a pirate said that the captain of a ship hijacked Monday with 28 North Korean crew members on board had died of wounds.

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More News On Somali Piracy

Maersk Alabama repels Somali pirates in second attack -- Christian Science Monitor
Pirates Attack Maersk Alabama Again -- New York Times
Maersk Alabama Evades Second Pirate Attack -- Wall Street Journal
Second pirate attack on Maersk Alabama foiled -- USA Today
U.S. ship fends off second pirate attack -- CNN
Somali Pirates : Maersk Alabama Attacked, Fights Back -- Eagle Speak

Somali pirates get $3.3M ransom, free 36 hostages -- AP
Spain pays £2m ransom to pirates for release of 36 hostages -- Daily Mail
Somali pirates take $3M in ransom; free 36 Spanish hostages held for seven weeks on tuna boat -- New York Daily News
Spanish opposition questions pirate ransom -- Financial Times

Somalia to get EU training force to counter Islamist insurgents -- Christian Science Monitor
Video: Hunting pirates from the UK -- Global Post
Greater efforts needed on land to fight piracy off Somali coast: UN chief -- China Daily
U.S. And Seychelles Piracy Walks The Plank — UAVs The Quiet Success -- Sat News
Somali piracy's economic impact -- BBC
Guidance vague on dealing with lawlessness on the high seas -- Times Online

Somali piracy threat in the Indian Ocean - a timeline -- The Telegraph

Somali Leaders: Give Us The Tools, We'll Fight The Pirates

From The Danger Room:

As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates now sees it, fighting Somali pirates mean's fixing Somalia's problems on land. Speaking yesterday at the Army War College, Gates said the United States is actively looking for allies inside Somalia's weak and fractured government. And he suggested that Puntland -- which declared its autonomy in 1998 -- might be a good candidate for military assistance.

"The main problem," Gates said, "is the ungoverned space that is now Somalia. And one of the questions that I think we have to look at is, do we look at what we might be able to do with regional governments in Somalia; for example, the government in Puntland, which has more capacity than -- seems to me -- than perhaps the government in Mogadishu right now."

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My Comment: Yeah right ....