Turkish Navy Commandos Seize Pirates Off Somalia

By REUTERS
Published: July 31, 2009

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish navy commandos taking part in a NATO mission to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia captured seven pirates Friday, the military staff said, in the second operation of its kind in a week.

The pirates were taken as they were trying to hijack a boat in the Gulf of Aden. Last week, Turkish commandos backed by a helicopter seized five pirates in the Gulf of Aden as they were about to launch an attack on a ship.

NATO member Turkey has sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden under an international mission deployed off Somalia since the start of the year to try to prevent attacks.

Somali sea gangs, operating in the strategic shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe, have made millions of dollars in ransom from hijacking vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.

Piracy has surged off the Somali coast in recent years where sea gangs continue to defy foreign navies patrolling the vast shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe. (Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

Source: Reatuers | July 31, 2009