Police on Thursday shot dead three Abu Sayyaf suspects and arrested three others in a raid in Quezon City that yielded evidence purportedly showing the group was involved in the deadly Batasan bomb attack. One of those killed in the Payatas raid was a woman.
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/congressblast/view.php?db=1&article=20071116-101213
Telegraph:
Britain has launched a drive for an international accord granting the Royal Navy and Western warships rights to enter Somali territorial waters in pursuit of pirate gangs linked to al-Qa’eda.
Pirate activity has soared off the Horn of Africa this year with the emergence of highly sophisticated gangs that use fast patrol boats, launched from “mother ships” to board cargo vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
The lucrative multi-million-dollar kidnap and ransom trade, which is dominated by al-Qa’eda, according to terrorism experts, threatens to disrupt international shipping lanes used to carry cargo from the Far East to Europe.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/28/wpirate128.xml
International Herald Tribune:
Pirates from two small skiffs seized the crew of a Japanese vessel off anarchic Somalia’s coast. American forces fired on and destroyed the skiffs, and now the navies of the U.S. and 19 other countries are after bigger prey.
The U.S.-led coalition working to secure sea lanes beset by pirates believe skiffs like the ones used in the attack on the Japanese ship must have come from elusive “mother ships.”
“The small boats which are used for piracy could not travel,” from shore as far into the ocean as ships have been attacked, said Commodore Khan Hasham of Pakistan, one of the U.S. allies in the anti-piracy operation. “So they needed a mother ship from which the pirates could launch skiffs.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/29/africa/AF-GEN-Somalia-Hunting-Pirates.php?page=1#end_main
Time:
A female suicide bomber disguised as an office worker blew herself up in the heart of Colombo on Wednesday, killing one person in an apparent attempt to assassinate a government minister, the military said.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1688450,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
AFP:
Sri Lankan forces killed at least 17 Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday repulsing a guerrilla attack on a police post in the northwest, the defence ministry said.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) despatched seven boats to attack the Pesalai police post on the coast of Mannar district, the ministry said in a statement.
Police and troops beat back the rebels killing 17, without suffering any loses, the ministry said.
There was no immediate word from the LTTE which is fighting for an independent homeland for the island’s ethnic Tamil minority.
Casualty tolls reported by both sides in the war can rarely be verified. The government does not allow journalists free access to conflict areas.
Al Qaeda and its affiliates in recent years have made no secret of their desire to open new hot war fronts that will drain the resources and willpower of the West.
The Horn of Africa is clearly part of that strategy, and the inroads the radical are now clearly discerable. Perhaps the most dramatic public setback has been the government of Yemen’s decision to pardon Jamal al-Badawi, a key architect of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.
The bombing left 17 U.S. sailor dead, and was the announcement of al Qaeda’s continuing presence in the region. In 1998 the group successfully bombed two U.S. embassies East Africa.
Just two years after outrunning pirates off Somalia, the cruise liner Seabourn Spirit has been saved from a potential repeat attack.
Royal Navy warship HMS Campbeltown responded to a call for help from Seabourn Spirit taken at the Bahrain headquarters of Royal Navy and coalition operations in the Gulf, as the liner transited for Muscat, Oman.
The cruise ship’s crew had grown increasingly concerned about small skiffs believed to be pirates closing on their position.
Taipei Times:
Sri Lankan fighter jets yesterday bombed and destroyed a satellite communications center run by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in their northern stronghold, an air force spokesman said. The rebels said the air raid killed three civilians.
“Air force jets bombed an LTTE satellite communications and coordinating center in [the] Dharampuram area northeast of Kilinochchi on Sunday morning,” said a spokesman at the Media Center for National Security, adding that details of casualties were not immediately available.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/11/26/2003389954
ArabianBusiness.com:
A worrying trend in the increasing intensity and ferocity of pirate attacks on commercial shipping vessels has put the regional shipping industry on high alert, as attacks on container, vehicle and general cargo ships continue to rise.
Ship Master’s, pilots and crew are being warned to be vigilant on the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Aden and Red Sea by the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Alert service.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/504519-regional-shipping-on-piracy-alert
From the Office of Naval Intelligence:
Military troops killed suspected pirate and seize boats during a raid, 21 Oct 07, in Batu Pantan, Lagayas, Tawi-Tawi. Western Mindanao Command spokesman, Major Eugenio Batara Jr., said the troops launched the raid following the reported presence of the pirates in Batu Pantan. The raiding troops seized two “jungkong” type vessels believed to be used by the pirates. Local pirates are reportedly operating in the waters of Sulu and Tawi-tawi, victimizing traders and fishermen in the area. They are said to be heavily armed and wreaking fear on the nearby population. Batara claimed the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has also allied themselves with the lawless elements operating in this part of the country and urged the local population to be vigilant and report such kinds of individuals and organizations to the authorities Batara assured the residents in the area that the Western Mindanao Command remains steadfast in its mandate to protect the Filipino people against lawless elements.
Off the central east coast of Somalia. Vessels are advised to stay as far away from this location as practical. The first indication came when a merchant vessel reported being approached from the stern and chased by a small white speedboat for 15 minutes. Then, at 1000 UTC, a merchant vessel reported coming under gunfire.
Victim described two small speedboats, each carrying four armed men. One speedboat approached at the bow and the other approached at the stern. The gunmen in the speedboat at the bow started firing in the air and waving their arms signaling to stop. This was soon followed by gunmen in both speedboats firing directly at the ship’s accommodations. One bullet hit the bridge window. Vessel increased speed and took evasive maneuvers. After 15 minutes, the speedboats moved away.