(AP) - Somali pirates vowed to hunt down American ships and kill their sailors and French forces detained 11 other brigands in a high-seas raid as tensions ratcheted up Wednesday off Africa's volatile eastern coast.Pirates fired grenades and automatic weapons at an American freighter loaded with food aid but the ship escaped and was heading to Kenya under U.S. Navy guard.
The Liberty Sun's American crew successfully blockaded themselves inside the engine room—the same tactic that the Maersk Alabama crew used to thwart last week's attack on their ship. They were not injured in the attack Tuesday night but the vessel sustained some damage, owner Liberty Maritime Corp. said.
One of the pirates whose gang attacked the Liberty Sun said Wednesday his group was specifically targeting American ships and sailors.
"We will seek out the Americans and if we capture them we will slaughter them," said a 25-year-old pirate based in the Somali port of Harardhere who gave only his first name, Ismail.
"We will target their ships because we know their flags. Last night, an American-flagged ship escaped us by a whisker. We have showered them with rocket-propelled grenades," boasted Ismail, who did not take part in the attack.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Somali pirates vow to hunt down, kill Americans
From AP:
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4 comments:
And we are waiting for what?
To have some bodies?
See someone beheaded?
Someone in a wheelchair thrown overboard?
But what am I saying? I am upset about China's dollar reserves and might be recruited by nazis any second.
Never mind what I say
I said before and I'll say it again. Unless there is important commerce coming OUT of Somalia, which I highly doubt, blockade the coast. Anything that comes out, gets blown out of the water.
One carrier task force can do the trick.
It has been enlightening to hear what many of these vessels have been carrying - aid for Africa.
I contribute to several of the organizations that were identified has having aid on those ships, so I had a little stake in the ship's arrival. (Until I heard the news about the Captain, of course, and then my "stake" got a heck of a lot bigger).
And I know the continental overland routes to some of these countries aren't too great, but is there any other port that could be used for these shipments?? (To the point about blockading the Gulf of Aden ports).
Ro
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