Hunt of the Sea Wolves

Inquirer

At least 11 people – including two children – were killed when suspected Moro rebels and Abu Sayyaf bandits stormed a village in Maluso, Basilan early Saturday, authorities said.

The police corrected its initial report of 13 killed in the 5:45 a.m. attack staged by more or less 70 gunmen led by Puruji Indama in the village of Tubigan, Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza Jr., Basilan police chief, said by phone.

Some of the victims were burned beyond recognition when the attackers set on fire several houses, Mendoza said by phone.

Mendoza identified the fatalities as Arjie Bucoy, 9; Karen Bucoy, 1; Abigail Bucoy, 32 - whose charred remains were later recovered; Estelito Bacus; militiaman Benjie Laping; Timhaar Arakani; Rodel Uding Pagdalian; John Laping; Salima Salapuddin; Lorna Sahidda; and Tawasil Idjiran.

He said the 10 injured victims, who were rushed to various hospitals in the province, were identified as Talib Ibba, Sandy Tarroza, Nonoy dela Cruz, Usman Assam, Joeal Josefino, Maymuna Josefino, Jonathan Josefino, Joren Josefino, Alexander Bartolome, and Kimberly Bucoy, 13, who remains in critical condition.

Mendoza said the gunmen, including Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members, razed at least five houses during the attack.

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Voice of America

Since an international armada arrived in the Gulf of Aden last year to fight piracy, the combined navies have had some success in protecting commercial ships.  But piracy remains a huge problem and traditional Yemeni fishermen, who catch most of the country’s fish exports, say pirates have cut their business in half and threatened their lives. On a day to day basis, some say the international forces are also a threat.

Every morning on the humid shores of Yemen’s south coast, traditional fishermen load their colorful thin boats with nets, cages and string. It takes only a couple of men to push the small boats off the beach and into the Gulf of Aden. Sometimes they stay out fishing all night.

These days many fishermen say their income has been cut in half. Three years ago, there were about 10 pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden, now there are more than 100 a year.  Fishermen say it is no longer safe for them to venture into distant waters, or fish off the nearby coast of Somalia.

Read entire story at Voice of America

The Business Times

Al-Qaeda could target ships in the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait between Yemen and Somalia but could never completely control it, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

‘All Al-Qaeda can do is to threaten ships by attacking them with missiles or capturing them in international waters, like the pirates’ from Somalia, Mr Kurbi said in an interview with the ruling party’s Al-Mithaq weekly.

‘But Al-Qaeda could never, as it has threatened to do, take control of the Bab al-Mandab or international shipping lanes.

Read entire story at The Business Times

Inquirer

A member of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang involved in at least three high-profile kidnappings, including the 2000 Sipadan abduction of 19 foreigners, was arrested in Sulu last weekend, police authorities said Thursday.

Mujibar Alih Amon, 26, was arrested in a raid on his hideout in the village of Umbrul Qura, Barangay Buansa, Indanan.

Director General Jesus Verzosa, the Philippine National Police chief, said the arrest was made possible by vital information provided by a civilian informant who was given the P600,000 bounty Thursday.

Verzosa said Amon was the logistics officer of the ASG group in Sulu headed by Radullan Sahiron.

“He carries a reward of P600,000 because of his involvement not only in a string of kidnappings but also in bombing activities in the past,” said Verzosa.

Read entire story at the Inquirer

Associated Press

A spokesman for the European Union Naval Force says Somali pirates have freed a Singaporean-flagged chemical tanker after a ransom was delivered by parachute.

Graeme Gibbon Brooks, managing director of Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service, says it’s likely that pirate attacks will sharply increase in March, April and May as calmer weather is expected to make it easier to launch attacks.

RIANovosti

On February 24, Russia’s Pacific Fleet dispatched the large anti-submarine warship Marshal Shaposhnikov, a rescue tugboat and the Pechenga tanker to fight pirates off the Somali coast.

In addition to their crew, there are marines on board the auxiliary vessels and the Marshal Shaposhnikov is carrying two helicopters. The vessels, led by Captain 1st Rank Ildar Akhmerov, constitute the fourth task force that Russia has sent to Africa to ensure navigation safety.

Russian warships joined the fight against Somali pirates in the fall of 2008, when the Neustrashimy frigate was sent to the Gulf of Aden from the Baltic Sea. The frigate, currently keeping those waters safe for navigation, will be replaced by the group led by the Marshal Shaposhnikov.

In total nearly 20 countries, including leading NATO member states, India, China and several Arab countries, have sent warships to Somali coast. Three groups of warships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet have convoyed over 100 merchant vessels from 26 countries and repelled more than 20 pirate attacks.

During its second tour of duty in the Gulf of Aden, the Neustrashimy accompanied 15 convoys of over 50 tankers and other merchant vessels from different countries.

But these international efforts have not been entirely effective. Pirates staged 111 attacks, seizing 42 ships and 815 crewmembers off the Somali coast in 2008, and attempted 217 attacks, seizing 47 vessels and 867 crewmembers in 2009. This indicates that the pirates were less successful in 2009, when they seized one vessel per 4 or 5 attacks, than they were the previous year when they seized one vessel per two or three attacks.

However, this is not evidence of a piracy crisis as such, but only of tactical victories won by ship owners and warships. Strategically, the number of pirate attacks is growing and there are no signs of a decline in their activity.

The pirates are acquiring better equipment and boats, modern weapons and satellite communication and navigation systems. They are also improving their tactics. When merchant vessels stopped approaching the shore, the pirates started attacking them on the high seas.

Such attacks cannot succeed unless the pirates have information about the vessels’ routes and timetables, which means that they have an extended network of informers. Sea piracy has become a lucrative business with multi-million dollar revenues and only minor expenditures given the dire poverty in Somalia and the low cost of weapons and equipment available on the global market.

Read entire story at RIANovosti

Manila Bulletin

Marine troops conducting combat operations in Sulu figured in a fresh clash with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) killing one militant and injured others. 1Lt. Steffani Cacho, Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) information officer, said the encounter occurred at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Barangay Bungkaong, Patikul, Sulu.

Cacho said government troops recovered the body of the slain bandit who is a suspected follower of ASG sub-leader Basra Hauk as the military continue to pursue the group of Ahaduk who fled towards the forested areas of Patikul.

The clash took place two days after the government forces attacked an Abu Sayyaf camp that resulted to the death of six people – including Albader Parad and Abdulhaman Jumdail, the younger brother of Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu Pula.

The four slain ASG followers were identified as Omar Umbah, alias “Ben Kuting,” Hamilton Sadjael, Simal Abtong, a nephew of Dr. Abu Pula, and Udin Serael. “This (Tuesday’s clash) is still part of the pursuit operations against the ASG following the encounter at Karawan, Indanan,” the military spokeswoman said.

BusinessWeek

The European Union says its flotilla combating piracy off the Somali coast will intensify surveillance of pirate ports and hunt motherships that act as logistics bases for the pirates.

Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon says EU defense ministers meeting here agreed to strengthen controls over pirate bases in coming months. She did not elaborate how this will be achieved.

The EU, NATO, the United States and other affected countries have deployed a large number of warships and maritime aircraft to the region to stem hijackings of merchant vessels.

Rear Adm. Peter Hudson, who commands the EU mission, said intensifying cooperation between the various flotillas was improving their ability to control an area of ocean of over one million square miles.

Kyiv Post

The Russian Pacific Fleet has sent more ships to the Indian Ocean to protect civilian vessels from pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden.

The large anti-submarine ship the Marshal Shaposhnikov, a tugboat and the Pechenga tanker have set out for Somali coasts, carrying marines and deck helicopters, the Pacific Fleet informed Interfax.

The current mission will be the fourth to have been sent to the pirate-stricken Gulf of Aden.

ABS CBN News

The military on Wednesday said it is targeting the remnants of an Abu Sayyaf faction in Maimbung, Sulu following the death of their leader, Albader Parad, last Sunday.

In a phone interview, AFP Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino said it is gathering more information about the remnants of Parad’s group before deploying large number of troops to go after the terrorists.

“This is a cycle of intelligence and combat operation. After that encounter (Sunday), we are again building up intelligence information where they went. That is how we operate, we do not just pursue. We operate when there is a precise intelligence report,” said Dolorfino.

Read entire story at ABS CBN News