"We have information that Somali’s Hezb al-Islam militia has taken over the port of Harardhere but the information is scanty," Thornqvist told journalists. "Islamists are out to take opportunity. We don’t know how genuine are the Somali Islamists said to have taken over the notorious hide-out of suspected pirates," said the official, who was speaking on board the Swedish’s HSwMS Carlskrona vessel at the port of Mombasa.
Thornqvist who was accompanied by Commander Nakan Nilsson, the Commanding Officer of the vessel, added that if the Islamists militia group is genuinely out to fight piracy as they claim, the European force shall closely work with them. "We are not carrying any operations outside the waters and I cannot talk much on the Islamists militia takeover of the port of Harardhere since they are not within our operation zone," Thornqvist said. He said since the EU Atlanta operations, which started in December 2008, 277 pirates have been captured by the combined naval forces, while 62 pirate action groups have been disrupted and 50 pirates’ boats destroyed. "However, since April 11 this year, the numbers of pirates attacks have increased by 150 per cent but the actual hijacks have reduced by 25 per cent compared to last year," the EU naval force official said.
"We are mandated to protect vessels of World Food Program delivering food aid to displaced persons in Somalia, protect vulnerable vessels sailing in the Gulf of Aden, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and monitoring and reporting of fishing activities." Nilsson said approximately 12 ships, nine large vessels and three bigger fishing vessels with more than 300 crew members are in the hands of suspected pirates. "We need a bigger fleet to cover the entire area. Our area of operations is approximately equivalent to the Mediterranean Sea," Nilsson said. Nilsson praised the Kenyan and Seychelles governments for their efforts in fight against piracy.
"The EU agreement with Kenya on the trial of suspected pirates is being reviewed to ensure more pirates were ferried to Kenya for trials. We expect the review to be completed in the next six months."
Source: Africatime
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