Posted on 12/03/2010 4:55:48 PM PST by Pan_Yan
WASHINGTON — Somalia's breakaway Puntland state has hired a private security firm to fight piracy but Washington is concerned about the program's funding, aims and scope, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Friday.
"The US is aware Puntland authorities are contracting with a private security company to assist them in counter-piracy," Lieutenant Colonel Tamara Parker told AFP.
...
The US and other navies have deployed dozens of warships to patrol the region's waters but have failed to stem piracy, one of the few thriving businesses for coastal communities in Somalia, a country devastated by war and poverty.
Over the past two years, marauding sea-jackers on skiffs equipped with RPGs, ladders and grapnels have moved away from the heavily patrolled Gulf of Aden and expanded their area of operations east and south in the Indian Ocean.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
And I always thought Puntland was where old NFL kickers go to retire.
According to another article it is a company called Saracen International which is training Puntland soldiers. They are being paid by an ‘undisclosed muslim country.’
And by the Chinese poaching their fish to near extinction within Somalia's 200 mile economic exclusion zone. The Somali fishermen only became pirates and started raiding ships after the Somali government disintegrated and stopped policing the fisheries.
Good point.
Why not use the Russian MO for dealing with pirates? So far there haven’t been any repeat offenders.
Why not use the Russian Navy’s MO for dealing with pirates? So far there haven’t been any repeat offenders.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.