Hunt of the Sea Wolves

Associated Press

Pirates have resumed their daring attacks on shipping vessels after weather off the Somali coast improved, a maritime official said Wednesday, but warships in the area and precautions taken by mariners themselves have helped thwart the attempted hijackings.

Cyrus Mody at the International Maritime Bureau said international forces intervened in two attacks on Saturday. The pirates resumed their activity in mid-September after about a six-week break.

“Since the attacks resumed after the monsoon subsided there have been no successful hijackings off Somalia, which is a very positive step,” Mody said. “We attribute this very largely to the actions of the naval forces in the area and better mariner preparedness.”

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Science Christian Monitor

The US has pulled out of a village near where two Navy Seabees and one Filipino marine were killed by a roadside bomb Tuesday, a Philippines military official said Wednesday.

The move comes amid concerns that Al Qaeda-linked Muslim militants may be launching a new offensive in the restive south. Abu Sayyaf has regularly traded fire with Philippines forces, but Tuesday’s blast was the first time in seven years that they had killed US servicemen.

Aided by an estimated 600 US advisers, the Philippines military has in recent years pushed Abu Sayyaf back to its stronghold on two remote islands. (See map of the joint operations area here.)

US-trained Filipino special forces have been trying to eliminate the group, with the help of US unmanned aerial vehicles and high-tech equipment like night goggles.

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AFP

The US Navy said on Tuesday that pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia have recently increased.

There have been four attempted attacks on motor vessels in the Gulf of Aden since September 19, bringing the total number of piracy attacks on merchant vessels in 2009 to 146, of which 28 have been successful, the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

“We make every attempt to intercept the skiffs with pirate paraphernalia before they can attack a merchant ship,” said Scott E. Sanders, who heads multinational Combined Task Force (CTF) 151.

“We’re not being passive out here; we’re being proactive. We are creating an environment in which pirates are not so bold.”

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Inquirer

Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits bombed a police outpost in Patikul, Sulu, Tuesday, two hours after an explosion killed two American soldiers.

There was no reported casualty in the second attack that occurred near the headquarters of the police mobile group in Barangay Kasanyagan in Patikul, according to Senior Supt. Alibuddin Esmail, the Sulu police chief.

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Associated Press

Hulking gray naval frigates fanned out across the Gulf of Aden have combined with monsoon storms to sharply reduce pirate attacks in the world’s busiest shipping lanes in recent weeks.

But the commanding officer of the European Union armada warned Tuesday that it is too early to declare victory over heavily armed Somali pirates in tiny, fast-moving skiffs.

“This is not a thing where we can say ‘job done,’” Rear Admiral Peter Hudson said on the sidelines of an EU defense ministers’ meeting.

Hudson’s warning came as EU officials hailed their anti-piracy flotilla as a resounding success, saying it has helped shepherd hundreds of thousands of tons of World Food Program aid to starving Somalis and foiled 100 pirate attacks since it began patrolling the Gulf nine months ago.

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GMA News

Two US Navy personnel and one Philippine Marine soldier were killed when a land mine exploded along a road in Indanan, Sulu Tuesday morning, an official said.

The American fatalities were members of the US Navy construction brigade, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. told GMANews.TV in a telephone interview. He did not disclose the identities of all three casualties.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila confirmed the incident, but withheld the names of the casualties pending notification of relatives.

“They lost their lives serving others and we will always be grateful for their contributions to improve the quality of life on Jolo,” said U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney.

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The New York Times

Early this decade, American soldiers landed on the island of Basilan, here in the southern Philippines, to help root out the militant Islamic separatist group Abu Sayyaf. Now, Basilan’s biggest towns, once overrun by Abu Sayyaf and criminal groups, have become safe enough that a local Avon lady trolls unworriedly for customers.

Still, despite seven years of joint military missions and American development projects, much of the island outside main towns like Lamitan remains unsafe. Abu Sayyaf members, sheltered by sympathetic residents, continue to operate in the interior’s dense forests, even as the United States recently extended the deployment of troops in the southern Philippines.

Read entire story at The New York Times

The Journal of Commerce

The Indian Shipping Ministry on Friday warned of terrorist related pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and along the Somali coast.

The ministry issued a security advisory for India-flag vessels, crews, all ship owners and agents in the wake of reports that Indian vessels and seafarers could be susceptible to attacks by terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda.

“All Indian ships and ships with Indian crewmembers are not to transit the piracy affected areas without the Indian navy escort services,” the ministry said.

The ministry specifically called on India-flag vessels to seek convoy protection while transiting through the region.

The Gulf of Aden is a crucial shipping channel for merchant vessels passing to and from the Suez Canal. An increasing number of pirate attacks in recent months have prompted several countries to deploy naval forces around the pirate-infested areas.

Many major carriers, including the state-owned Shipping Corporation of India, earlier imposed an emergency surcharge, ranging from $25 to $50 per 20-foot equivalent unit, on shipments moving through the Gulf, in a bid to cover increased insurance premiums and other costs.

Stars and Stripes

Piracy in the busy Gulf of Aden shipping lanes has plummeted recently as navies have honed their anti-piracy skills, changed tactics and taught merchant mariners how to escape attacks.

As of Wednesday there had been five pirate attacks in September compared with 19 attacks in September last year, according to Cyrus Mody, manager of the International Maritime Bureau, a nonprofit and nongovernmental agency.

Mody attributed part of the decline to the establishment of a 492-mile corridor where navy vessels from European Union, NATO and the U.S.-led Combined Task Force 151 can escort packs of merchant ships to keep pirates at bay.

Military officials, however, are wary that pirate attacks will increase as the weather continues to improve in the area. The monsoon season is typically from June through September, and the improving weather means there is a potential for more attacks, said British Royal Navy Commander Chris Davies, spokesman for NATO’s Maritime Component Command in Northwood, England.

Read entire story at Stars and Stripes

The Korea Herald

Government troops Monday raised the Philippine flag on a hill at Sitio Talibang in Indanan town on Jolo Island after driving away Abu Sayyaf kidnappers and killing 17 of them, the military said.

Hours later at Indanan’s Bato-bato village, suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen ambushed and killed eight soldiers, including a junior officer, said Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) chief.

In the ensuing gun battle, the soldiers killed three bandits, he said. The ambush took place at 2 p.m.

The losses at Bato-bato were the worst in the two-day encounter in Indanan in a government assault that began on Sunday when Marines trapped the kidnappers and came under fire.

Dolorfino said around 200 Abu Sayyaf gunmen had gathered in the area, reinforced by 40 fighters from Basilan island.

“The reports were confirmed by barangay intelligence or our assets there,” he said.

“We took the opportunity this time and launched offensive action. We cannot actually penetrate the place that is why I ordered the use of air strike,” he added.

Read entire story at The Korea Herald