American Woman Along With Danish Aid Workers Abducted By Somali Pirates

Here we go again...Westerners insisting that they venture into a no man's land like Somalia to do good will and end up being taken hostage by the vermin that makes up 90% of Somalia. An American woman working for a Danish company along with her Danish coworkers was kidnapped today by a band of Somali pirates who ambushed their convoy to a local airport. All three kidnap victims are on their way to the Somali coast where the pirates will simply wait out the delivery of a ransom.

From the article at Breitbart:

Gunmen abducted a 32-year-old female American aid worker in northern Somalia on Tuesday along with a Danish and a Somali colleague as their convoy headed to the airport. The kidnappings come only weeks after four Europeans were seized by suspected Somali gunmen in neighboring Kenya.

A self-proclaimed Somali pirate said that pirates had captured the three. The captors would not harm the three but will want a ransom for their release, he said. The claim could not be independently verified.

The three employees work for the Danish Demining Group, whose experts have been clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.

"As a first priority, we have been concentrating on the ongoing investigations. We are keeping close contact with the family members, who are deeply concerned, just as we are," said Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department.

Activities of the Danish Refugee Council, which runs the Danish Demining Group, have been suspended in the area. The group provided no other details and asked media outlets "to respect the need for confidentiality as investigations are ongoing."

A Nairobi-based security official said the demining group was traveling in a three-car convoy, including one vehicle of armed guards, but that the guards did not resist the kidnapping.

Well, obviously it appears that the guards in charge of overseeing these workers were in on the deal and are probably no where to be found now but at the same time, if you are an American woman doing anything in Somalia, can you seriously be surprised if you get kidnapped?!!

I don't know if this Danish company is going to fork over the bucks to get these people out...I'm guessing they will and of course, at that point in time, the Somali pirates will be off to repeat the process and bring home more bacon ...err....income.

US, Danish aid workers in Somalia seized by gunmen


MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Gunmen abducted a 32-year-old female American aid worker in northern Somalia on Tuesday along with a Danish and a Somali colleague as their convoy headed to the airport. The kidnappings come only weeks after four Europeans were seized by suspected Somali gunmen in neighboring Kenya.

A self-proclaimed Somali pirate said that pirates had captured the three. The captors would not harm the three but will want a ransom for their release, he said. The claim could not be independently verified.

The three employees work for the Danish Demining Group, whose experts have been clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.

"As a first priority, we have been concentrating on the ongoing investigations. We are keeping close contact with the family members, who are deeply concerned, just as we are," said Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department.

Activities of the Danish Refugee Council, which runs the Danish Demining Group, have been suspended in the area. The group provided no other details and asked media outlets "to respect the need for confidentiality as investigations are ongoing."

A Nairobi-based security official said the demining group was traveling in a three-car convoy, including one vehicle of armed guards, but that the guards did not resist the kidnapping.

The three are believed to be on their way to a former pirate stronghold on the Somali coast, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Ahmed Mohamed, a police officer in the Somali town of Galkayo, said the aid workers had been heading to the airport when they crossed into a southern section of the city that is under clan control. The northern section of Galkayo is under the control of the semiautonomous region of Puntland.

Two Nairobi-based officials said the American woman is 32 and the Danish man is 60. The woman is a former school teacher, one official said.

Bile Hussein, the self-proclaimed pirate, said the three were abducted with the help of "insiders." Hussein has provided reliable information about pirate activities in Somalia to The Associated Press in the past. He said that capturing ships off East Africa is becoming harder—ships are using stronger self-defense measures—so pirates are looking for other ways to earn ransoms.

"They are now on the way to Gan town, and we shall treat them humanely and kindly. Our aim is all about a ransom, not harming them," Hussein said.

Christian Friis Bach, Denmark's minister for development cooperation, told Danish broadcaster DR that the demining group was working to help Somalis.

"That's why it's both sad and tragic that they have been struck by this kidnapping, and I hope their strong network and a collected effort also by the Foreign Ministry can resolve the situation quickly.," he said.

The kidnapping comes only weeks after the seizure of two women working for Doctors Without Borders from a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, as well as the kidnappings of two European tourists from Kenya's coast—one of whom later died. Somali gunmen were suspected in those attacks.

Kenya has sent at least 1,600 forces into southern Somalia to attack al-Qaida-linked militants in response to those kidnappings, though it's not clear whether the al-Shabab fighters were responsible for the abductions.

The northern semiautonomous province of Puntland is generally considered more stable than most of the rest of Somalia, which is riven between pirate gangs, Islamist insurgents and militias and the weak U.N.-backed government in the capital. It has not had a functioning central government for the last 20 years.

Somali Pirates Stiff India On Hostage Ransom...They Get the Ransom, Release the Ship...But Keep the Hostages

I'm guessing that we are going to find out just how far you can push the government of India and it's special operations people in its military as a group of Somali pirates has decided that even after they were paid a multi-million dollar ransom to release an Indian ship and hostages...the Somalis released the ship and crew members who weren't Indian but hung onto the Indian hostages.

From the report at Breitbart:

In a move that could change the pirate-hostage equation, Somali pirates on Friday took in a multimillion dollar ransom, then released the ship and some of the crew but kept all the Indian crew members as hostages.

A pirate told The Associated Press the Indian crew members' hostage ordeal is being prolonged in retaliation for the arrests of more than 100 Somali pirates by the Indian Navy.

"We decided to keep the Indian because India is holding our colleagues," the pirate, Hassan Farah, said. "We released the other crew members who sailed away from our coast. We will keep these Indians until the Indians release our colleagues."

Farah said the pirates in the stronghold of Haradhere have taken that collective decision. The Indian hostages are to be moved to land.

A multimillion dollar ransom was paid for the ship Asphalt Venture, whose ownership is located in Mumbai, India. Pirates are receiving an average of $5 million to release ships and crew, and a ransom in that ballpark was believed to have been paid on Friday.

It wasn't immediately clear how many of the 15 crew members aboard the Asphalt Venture were Indian. The ship was hijacked in late September.

Friday's pirate action marks a major departure from the standard pirate business model of release-for-ransom and could complicate international military efforts against the piracy trade.

Now, I'm not exactly an expert on the art of piracy but it seems to me that this might just mess up all piracy schemes in the future - who will pay a ransom after this stunt? Without a guarantee that the hostages will be freed, who would pay it?

If I'm the Indians...well, if they aren't willing to release their Somali pirate prisoners, then I'd be laying out a plan to destroy the Somali coastline where these guys will be landing with the hostages. Sure, it wouldn't bode well for the hostages but they are more than likely dead any way in just a matter of days...and the Indians might get lucky and happen upon the hostages in an operation.

Somalia has to realize that the pirates have opened that country up for invasion by a multitude of countries who are feeling the sting of the piracy. I say you work an attack on Somalia that makes it impossible for pirates to even launch a boat.

Somali pirates keep Indian hostages after ransom


MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - In a move that could change the pirate-hostage equation, Somali pirates on Friday took in a multimillion dollar ransom, then released the ship and some of the crew but kept all the Indian crew members as hostages.

A pirate told The Associated Press the Indian crew members' hostage ordeal is being prolonged in retaliation for the arrests of more than 100 Somali pirates by the Indian Navy.

"We decided to keep the Indian because India is holding our colleagues," the pirate, Hassan Farah, said. "We released the other crew members who sailed away from our coast. We will keep these Indians until the Indians release our colleagues."

Farah said the pirates in the stronghold of Haradhere have taken that collective decision. The Indian hostages are to be moved to land.

A multimillion dollar ransom was paid for the ship Asphalt Venture, whose ownership is located in Mumbai, India. Pirates are receiving an average of $5 million to release ships and crew, and a ransom in that ballpark was believed to have been paid on Friday.

It wasn't immediately clear how many of the 15 crew members aboard the Asphalt Venture were Indian. The ship was hijacked in late September.

Friday's pirate action marks a major departure from the standard pirate business model of release-for-ransom and could complicate international military efforts against the piracy trade.

Earlier this year pirates killed four American hostages while U.S. Navy warships were shadowing the hijacked yacht, the first time pirates had done that.

Overall, analysts say pirates are becoming increasingly aggressive, violent and hostile.

The Indian navy has seized around 120 pirates, mostly from Somalia, over the past few months. Last month the Indian navy captured 61 pirates when they attacked a naval ship. Indian warships have been escorting merchant ships as part of international anti-piracy surveillance in the Indian Ocean area since 2008.

Piracy has long plagued the shipping industry off East Africa, but violence has escalated in recent months. Pirates held some 30 ships and more than 600 hostages.

U.S. Marines Storm Ship Hijacked By Somali Pirates Capturing Pirates, Freeing Crew

You just gotta love how U.S. Marines kick ass, dontcha? Just on Wednesday, a German ship was attacked by nine Somali pirates and taken over as the crew locked themselves in a container on the ship. And within a day, this is what happened - via the story at Family Security Matters:

Yesterday morning, U.S. Marines seized a pirate-controlled ship in the Gulf of Aden according to a statement from the Fifth Fleet.

Thursday at 5 a.m. local time, 24 members of the 15^th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raid Force boarded the Magellan Star, capturing all pirates without firing a shot. No injuries to the crew, Marines, or pirates were reported.

The nine pirates are currently in custody of Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151), a 25-nation task force whose mission is to “deter, disrupt, and suppress piracy” in the region. The Marines are members of the Marine Corps' elite Force Reconnaissance unit, and have trained for counter-pirate operations for several months prior to departing for the theater.

“This is a direct result of intense training over a long period of time,” says W. Thomas Smith Jr., director of the U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team and a recognized expert on seaborne piracy. “Any type of kinetic operation is dangerous. But when you add the elements of the sea, boarding, and then close-quarters once aboard, the danger is ramped up exponentially.”

Now, we have had examples of other countries' special ops and naval forces freeing ships from Somali pirates over the past six months - the Germans, Dutch and Russians have all done it and now the U.S. - it shouldn't be a surprise then as to why we simply aren't hearing much about Somali pirates, huh?

I'd say that once word of this Marines operation floats around Mogadishu and the Somali coast, we might just see a lot of pirate boats up for sale. LOL.

Marines Seize Ship From Pirates off Somalia


MANAMA, Bahrain – Yesterday morning, U.S. Marines seized a pirate-controlled ship in the Gulf of Aden according to a statement from the Fifth Fleet.

Early Wednesday, pirates captured the German-owned vessel M/V Magellan Star. Crew members locked themselves in a safe compartment of the ship once the pirates had boarded. Thursday at 5 a.m. local time, 24 members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raid Force boarded the Magellan Star, capturing all pirates without firing a shot. No injuries to the crew, Marines, or pirates were reported.

Although the U.S. military has taken steps to deter recent pirate attacks, Thursday's action marks the first known occurrence of the U.S. military boarding a pirate-controlled vessel since Thomas Jefferson sent troops to combat the Barbary pirates over two hundred years ago.

The nine pirates are currently in custody of Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151), a 25-nation task force whose mission is to “deter, disrupt, and suppress piracy” in the region. The Marines are members of the Marine Corps' elite Force Reconnaissance unit, and have trained for counter-pirate operations for several months prior to departing for the theater.

“This is a direct result of intense training over a long period of time,” says W. Thomas Smith Jr., director of the U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team and a recognized expert on seaborne piracy. “Any type of kinetic operation is dangerous. But when you add the elements of the sea, boarding, and then close-quarters once aboard, the danger is ramped up exponentially.”

Just how dangerous is it to board a vessel with armed pirates on board?

“Extremely dangerous for several reasons,” says Smith, who years ago as a U.S. Marine coincidentally sailed on USS Dubuque (the ship from which today's raid was launched). “First, pirates today are often equipped with everything from satellite phones, GPS receivers, and long-range telescopes to all manner of weapons, including RPGs, assault rifles and pistols. Second, if pirates have already taken the ship, they may be in strong defensive positions with good cover from which they may totally focus on observing and engaging the boarding parties, whereas the boarders are exposed and having to divide their focuses between engaging and boarding. Pirates also may set booby traps and establish ambush positions, and there may be hostages involved.”

Marine Corps Captain Alexander Martin, a member of the Maritime Raid Force writes that the joint Navy-Marine Corps unit “conducts visit-board-search-seizure (VBSS), kinetic strikes on non-compliant targets, maritime infrastructure seizure and reinforcement, host-nation training, and other maritime raid and interdiction operations as directed.”

“Its execution packages come complete with supporting air, medical and trauma units, sniper teams, shadowing ships, Navy VBSS and ship-control teams, small-boat units, and a direct-action assault unit with an integrated infantry trailer platoon for support,” writes Martin.

The Marines are stationed aboard the USS Dubuque (LPD 8) as part of Combined Task Force 151, one of three such task forces protecting shipping in the area.

Danish Special Forces Intervene In Somali Pirate Hijacking Attempt

Unfortunately, I don't have a really cool description of 10 Somali pirates being cut down by gunfire while trying to hijack a Slovenian ship but this story is actually very significant in that it represents the first time that a Western military force has come to the rescue of a shipping vessel under attack by Somali pirates.

From the article at Times Online:

Danish special forces stormed a Slovenian-owned ship and rescued the 25-strong crew yesterday in the first known case of Western forces intervening during an attack by Somali pirates.
The rescue began at dawn when the captain of a cargo ship named the Ariella sent out a mayday call, saying a skiff carrying six armed pirates was approaching his vessel 100 miles (160km) north of the Somali coast in the Gulf of Aden.

When the Absalon was roughly a mile out a team of about ten Danish special forces were dispatched in an inflatable boat to free the Ariella. By the time they had scaled the sides the pirates had vanished. No shots were fired.
A Russian naval ship, the Neustrashimyy, picked up a second skiff carrying seven more pirates who were part of the attack on the Ariella but had not boarded her.

Finally, huh? It's about time that a simple distress signal from a cargo ship under attack by these Somali pirate scum starts the wheels in motion and a response is launched by Western naval vessels. If this happens about six more times, one has to believe that these Somali pirates are going to start thinking twice about their attacks. At the same time, you can see from the article that this Slovenian ship had taken some security measures with lining the perimeter of the ship with barbed wire.

Danish special forces storm cargo ship to thwart Somali pirate attack

Danish special forces stormed a Slovenian-owned ship and rescued the 25-strong crew yesterday in the first known case of Western forces intervening during an attack by Somali pirates.
The rescue began at dawn when the captain of a cargo ship named the Ariella sent out a mayday call, saying a skiff carrying six armed pirates was approaching his vessel 100 miles (160km) north of the Somali coast in the Gulf of Aden.
He also said that the ship was ringed by barbed wire, giving the crew time to lock themselves in a safe room with a VHF radio.
An Indian naval ship, the Tabar, picked up the signal and a French EU maritime patrol aircraft checked the vessel. It saw armed men and contacted the Danish warship Absalon, which was ten miles away.

When the Absalon was roughly a mile out a team of about ten Danish special forces were dispatched in an inflatable boat to free the Ariella. By the time they had scaled the sides the pirates had vanished. No shots were fired.
A Russian naval ship, the Neustrashimyy, picked up a second skiff carrying seven more pirates who were part of the attack on the Ariella but had not boarded her. It was unclear last night what would happen to those pirates. Russia could prosecute them, hand them over to the Slovenians for prosecution or transfer them to Kenya or the Seychelles.
“Absalon’s action today demonstrates Nato’s resolve to deter and disrupt piracy off the Horn of Africa,” said Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, the commander of Nato’s maritime headquarters in Northwood, London, who praised the co-operation between several navies.
French, American and other forces have stormed vessels hijacked off Somalia to free hostages before now, but they have never intervened during an attack.
Lieutenant-Commander Jacqui Sherriff, spokeswoman at Nato’s maritime headquarters, said that the boarding was possible “because the crew were locked in a safe room and the pirates could not get access to them and we knew they were not going to get caught in crossfire”.
Commander John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU naval force operating off Somalia, said that the Ariella was rescued because she was inside the 12-mile-wide Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor that runs for 500 miles through the Gulf of Aden and is protected by coalition warships.
Hijackings has fallen since the corridor was established. East of Somalia, however, where the Gulf opens into the Indian Ocean, they have risen.