Nairobi: These Somali pirates picked the
wrong ship to hijack.
Troops aboard the Dutch warship HNLMS Tromp fired warning
shots today off the coast of East Africa as suspected Somali
pirates in two small skiffs raced toward their warship, the EU
Naval Force said.
After the pirates realised they had made what spokesman
Cmdr. John Harbour called a "rather silly mistake," they
turned around and fled. EU Naval Force personnel tracked down
the two skiffs and a third suspected mothership, finding
ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades on board, said
Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force.
The two skiffs were destroyed and the pirates were set
free on the mothership after it had been cleared of weapons.
"This morning's attack may show a lack of sophistication
in the pirate's selection of targets, but it should be a
warning to the merchant community that the pirates will try to
attack any vessel on the high seas," said Harbour.
The EU Naval Force has disrupted 11 pirate attack groups
off the coast of East Africa over the last two weeks as part
of a more offensive mindset to stop pirate attacks, Harbour
said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 22:20