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| Africa Horn |
| Anti-piracy chopper fire kills four in Somalia: witnesses |
| 2010-10-26 |
| [Dawn] Somali pirates shot up an anti-piracy helicopter, sparking retaliation that killed at least four people in a small coastal village, witnesses told AFP Monday. The pirates in Labad village along Somalia's northern coast on Sunday night shot at the unidentified chopper from an anti-piracy warship patrolling the waters around the lawless Horn of Africa country. "Some of our friends preparing for an attack near Labad were provoked by a military chopper belonging to the international forces violating our waters and they opened fire on it, but it fired back one missile that killed four people including fishermen," Abdi Yare, a pirate leader, told AFP by phone. "The missile hit a rock and went kaboom!causing the casualties. Three others were also injured in the incident," he added. Local elders also confirmed the incident. "The chopper flew from a military ship off the coastal area and it fired a missile after the pirates opened fire on it," said Mohamed Abdi, an elder. Abdulaziz Moalim Ahmed, another elder, said: "The pirates were preparing to go for an attack when the chopper spotted them." A flotilla of foreign navies has been patrolling off the Somali coast since 2008 to safeguard the crucial Gulf of Aden shipping lane that had nearly been overrun by rampaging pirates from the war-wracked country. The warships have managed to thwart several hijackings and jugged dozens of pirates, but the attacks have not abated. At least 27 foreign vessels and 485 seamen remain in the hands of the pirates, according to Ecoterra, an NGO monitoring maritime activies in the region. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Surprised, Abdi? Do not fire at the helicopters. I can't stress that enough... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-10-26 15:37 |
| #3 Morale: Don't bring small arms to a missle-fight. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-10-26 14:55 |
| #2 They left off again that many fuzzy baby ducks and bunnies were killed. Can't the press fix these things so they read properly? I think the Press is losing the narrative here. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2010-10-26 12:01 |
| #1 Good |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2010-10-26 00:39 |