Sunday, January 27, 2008
advertisementsThe chief of a fishing village in Somalia has said pirates attacked and seized a foreign fishing vessel off the country's northeast coast.
Ahmed Said said the ship was captured on Saturday from waters off the coast of Puntland.
Since 1998, Puntland is a semiautonomous region in northeast Somalia, but does not seek outright independence from Somalia.
Somali pirates usually demand ransoms, later using the money to help finance arms for powerful clans.
Pirate attacks near Somalia's 1,880-mile coastline, the longest in Africa, tripled to 31 cases in 2007, up from the reported 10 in 2006.
Somalia is near major shipping routes connecting the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.
Source: Press TV, Jan 27, 2008