American Navy Arrests Pirates Looting Skiffs Off Somali Coast
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NAIROBI, Kenya – Suspected pirates tried to outgun two American navy warships with grenade launchers and AK47s when sailors prepared to board their 30-foot dinghy in lawless waters off Somalia.
Naval gunners retaliated with deck mounted machine guns after the attackers fired automatic rifles at a guided missile cruiser, the USS Cape St. George, and a guided missile destroyer, USS Gonzalez.
One of the Somalis was killed and five wounded in the short gun battle, which took place early on Saturday morning 25 nautical miles offshore.
The five injured men and seven other suspected pirates were taken into custody when the Americans eventually boarded the vessel.
The two warships were part of an international task force patrolling the increasingly dangerous waters around the Horn of Africa.
They spotted the suspect vessel towing two smaller skiffs and prepared to launch a routine search when the Somalis opened fire, a spokesman for the navy’s 5th Fleet, Lieutenant Commander Charlie Brown, said.
“As Gonzalez’s boarding teams prepared to conduct a routine boarding of the suspect vessel, the two Navy ships noticed the group of suspected pirates were brandishing what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenade launchers,” Commander Brown said in a statement.
“The suspected pirates then opened fire on the Navy ships [which] returned fire with small arms in self-defense.”
No American servicemen were injured.
However, representatives of the militia said to control the coastal stretch of central Somalia where the incident took place said their boat was itself conducting defensive “coast guard” patrols.
A spokesman for the militias, Saleban Aadan Barqad, said 14 of his men had returned to shore safely but 12 were “seized” by the Americans.
Piracy in Somali waters has soared during the last 12 months, with the number of incidents rising to 35 compared with only two in 2004, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Vessels ferrying food aid to Somalia have been attacked as well as a cruise ship carrying British tourists.
