Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Yemen Stops Somali Pirates from Hijacking Foreign Ship

The defense Ministry reported on Friday that Yemen’s coast-guard prevented an attempt by Somali pirates to hijack a foreign cargo ship in the Red Sea Strait of Bab al-Mandab.

According to the Information Security Center, four Somali pirates onboard a boat attempted to seize a foreign cargo ship off the island of Meion in Bab Al-Mandab.


“The Yemeni coast-guard forces, who were in charge of escorting the sailing cargo ship when it passed through the Yemeni regional waters, fired a hail of bullets towards the pirates and forced them to flee the scene,” the defense ministry website reported.


On August 29, Yemeni authorities reported that they had raised the alert level and tightened security along the country’s coastline and the Gulf of Aden because they feared hijacking attempts by Somali pirates and successful transfer of Somali al-Qaida militants to Yemen, People’s Daily online quoted state media as saying.


Yemen has also reportedly increased the number of coast- guard patrol boats that it has deployed along the coastline and the Gulf of Aden to prevent any hijacking attempts in the Yemeni waters or possible infiltration by the Somali extremists into the Yemeni territories, People’s Daily online added.


Posted in: Local News
Written By: Shuaib M. al-Mosawa
Article Date: Sep 21, 2010 - 5:04:26 PM


Source: http://www.yobserver.com/local-news

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