Posted on 05/18/2009 9:48:28 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Security forces in Somalia's northern breakaway region of Puntland have arrested 24 suspected pirates off the coast, officials said Monday.
The local governor, Muse Yusuf Gelle, said the arrests off the main city of Bosasso were among the first results of a unit launched earlier this month to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
"At least 24 suspected pirates were arrested yesterday and today with five small boats and seven RPGs. The local security committee is investigating them," he told AFP by phone from Bosasso.
"We have set up a local security committee...there are about 200 soldiers and 10 vehicles taking part in the operations on land and offshore to eliminate piracy," he said.
Local security officer Abdulahi Mohamed however said smugglers running illegal migrants from Puntland to Yemen may be among the 24.
Somali pirates have attacked more than 100 ships over the past year and hijacked dozens of them, often holding them for weeks before releasing them and their crews in exchange for a ransom.
Most of the pirates who have turned the Gulf of Aden into some of the planet's most dangerous waters are based in Puntland.
Speaking at an international conference on sea piracy Monday, Puntland's Internal Security Minister Abdullahi Said Samatar said he was disappointed more international help to create an effective coastguard hadn't been forthcoming.
"We are fed up. We are frustrated," he told reporters in Malaysia.
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