July 17, 2012: Pirate activity is down over 50 percent so far this year. In the first six months there were 69 pirate attacks off Somalia, compared to 163 in the same period last year. The drop in ships captured (21 last year versus 13 in 2012) was also dramatic. The pirates are still a threat but the countermeasures (more aggressive military patrols, more armed guards on large merchant ships, and more commercial ship crews aware of what they are up against) have thwarted the efforts of more and better equipped pirates.
The pirates are also under attack on land, where NATO has decided to allow their ships to fire at land targets and the government of Puntland (where most pirates operate from) are being more aggressive. This is the result of pressure from the West and the more aggressive use of foreign aid (or halting it) to get the Puntland officials to act. Until the land bases of the pirates are shut down the piracy will continue.
The UN is accusing leaders of the TNG (Transitional National Government) of stealing 70 percent of the foreign aid sent to Somalia over the last few years. The UN is urging members to enact sanctions on the most corrupt Somali officials. While all these thieves will be out of a job when the TNG is dissolved next month (to be replaced by an elected body), the corrupt officials are maneuvering to ensure that they obtain influential positions in the new government as well. The UN, and many donor states, are opposed to that. But the corrupt Somali leaders are willing to disrupt Western sponsored attempts to bring peace and government to Somalia, if that will provide them more opportunities to steal foreign aid and plunder their fellow Somalis. This attitude is the main reason there has been no peace, or government, in Somalia for over two decades. As long as these attitudes persist Somalia will remain a mess.
The bad leadership in Somalia has crippled the economy and the resulting high unemployment has made it easier for bandits and Islamic radicals to recruit new gunmen. Somali leaders complain that less foreign aid is coming in but do little to halt the theft of such aid. The foreign aid donors tend to stop sending aid when it becomes clear that most of it is being stolen. This is continuing to cause problems in areas of southern Somalia that have been cleared of al Shabaab gunmen. Local men promptly form armed gangs and try to steal from the heavily guarded aid convoys sent in to relieve hunger. Someone has to organize an armed rescue force, as the local brigands will block the road, and the convoy, until they are paid off (with a truck or two, along with its cargo).
July 16, 2012: An al Shabaab car bomb in Mogadishu killed a former trade minister and wounded six others. The bomb was planted in the victim's car and went off as the motor was turned on.
In Kenya, near the Somali border, a police patrol was ambushed and three policemen killed.
July 11, 2012: In Puntland three foreign aid workers (two Kenyans and a Somali doctor) were kidnapped by 14 armed men. Puntland mobilized police and pro-government clans to hunt down the kidnappers and free the captives. Puntland wants more foreign aid and kidnapping aid officials discourages donors.
July 10, 2012: In response to attacks on Kenyan churches by Islamic terrorists on July 1st, some Kenyan Moslems have volunteered to help guard churches, especially on Sunday.
Released aid workers at a Nairobi airport are: second from left, Steven Dennis of Canada; Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin; Astrid Sehl of Norway; and Glenn Costes of the Philippines. (Khalil Senosi/Associated Press)
Two Canadians who were kidnapped from a refugee camp in Kenya by armed gunmen and taken to Somalia before being rescued say the attack happened suddenly with bullets fired, lots of confusion and some aid workers being ordered into another vehicle.
Steven Dennis, 37, of Toronto, and Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai, 38, from Gatineau, Que., were among four aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council captured at gunpoint from the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya on June 29. They were held for three days before being rescued.
"They came with guns. They started rounding up people, pushed one into our car, and they got in the car," Sadazai told The Canadian Press from Nairobi, where the freed hostages are now resting.
"It was five minutes of shock."
The group's driver was shot and pulled from the car and it was only later Sadazai found out he'd been killed.
Four international aid workers were abducted on June 29 from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, which is about 100 kilometres from the Somali border. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)
They were driven out of the camp, located about 100 kilometres west of the Kenya-Somalia border, and then forced to walk nine hours each night and sleep and hide during the days.
The hostages quickly learned that their abductors didn't plan to kill them, they just wanted money, Dennis said Wednesday.
He says his big feet and big wallet helped him escape injury and survive until he and the other hostages could be rescued.
He says there was a lot of confusion and gunfire when the aid convoy of two cars was attacked.One of the bullets grazed his front pocket where he always keeps his wallet. He told his parents, Peter and Carol-Ann Dennis, in a telephone call from Nairobi that his credit card saved him. He was left with just a bruise.
After being released, Dennis learned that trackers had followed his footprints in order for military officers from Kenya and Somalia to carry out a daring rescue mission 40 kilometres inside Somalia's border that saw one Somali gunman shot to death and the hostages freed.
'Mentally, you are in some ways prepared. As aid workers, we do know that there is a risk always and we are in areas that are high risk — this is something that happens and you have to work with it.'—Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai, freed hostage
"Because he's very tall, he's 6-5" and has big shoes and big feet and he said later on that he found out that the tracking was done very easily because they see these big feet and these little feet of the other aid workers," Carol-Ann Dennis told CBC News.
Dennis had only worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council for the past year in Kenya, but had a lengthy background in humanitarian work with other agencies, including Doctors Without Borders.
He says all of the other workers captured were experienced aid workers who knew what to do in a kidnapping situation. He said their captors showed them respect during their time in captivity.
"The kidnappers were telling us 'no problem,'" he says. "We heard that a lot."
Sadazai said her crisis training helped her get through the ordeal.
"Mentally, you are in some ways prepared," she said. "As aid workers, we do know that there is a risk always and we are in areas that are high risk — this is something that happens and you have to work with it."
She says she thought it might be weeks, or months, before the situation would be resolved.
Dennis' parents said they were appreciative of the support they received while their son was being held captive from the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Canadian government.
"[The government] did a lot more than just reach out to us. But they want to keep a low profile, they don't want the bad guys to know what they're doing and that sort of thing but … we'll pay our taxes a lot more happily in the future than we have in the past. They were outstanding," said Peter Dennis.
He has not been told when his son might return to Canada, but his mother has a plan for when he does.
She says she wants to "hug him forever."
Sadazai, who is married, said she plans to take 10 days to visit her parents in Pakistan before returning to continue her work with the Norwegian Refugee Council at the Dadaab camp, home to about 460,000 refugees.
"It hasn't changed any of my plans," she said of the kidnapping. "I'm still committed."
Also kidnapped and rescued were Norwegian Astrid Sehl, 33, and Glenn Costes, 40, a Filipino, who was shot and injured during the initial kidnapping.
64 km (39 miles) S of Eid, Eritrea
110 km (68 miles) WNW of Assab, Eritrea
190 km (118 miles) WSW of Zabid, Yemen
193 km (119 miles) NNE of Dubti, Ethiopia
A minaret in Timbuktu, Mali. Photograph: UN photo/Evan Schneider/EPA
Islamists armed with Kalashnikovs and pick-axes have destroyed the centuries-old mausoleums of saints in the Unesco-listed city of Timbuktu in front of shocked locals, witnesses say.
The attack by the al-Qaida-linked Ansar Dine group came days after Unesco placed Timbuktu on its list of heritage sites in danger and will recall the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of two sixth-century statues of Buddha carved into a cliff in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.
"They are armed and have surrounded the sites with pick-up trucks. The population is just looking on helplessly," said a local journalist, Yeya Tandina.
Tandina and other witnesses said Ansar Dine had already destroyed the mausoleums of three local saints – Sidi Mahmoud, Sidi el-Mokhtar and Alfa Moya – and at least seven tombs.
"The mausoleum doesn't exist any more and the cemetery is as bare as a soccer pitch," a local teacher, Abdoulaye Boulahi, said of the Mahmoud burial place.
"There's about 30 of them breaking everything up with pick-axes and hoes. They've put their Kalashnikovs down by their side. These are shocking scenes for the people in Timbuktu," said Boulahi.
Ansar Dine backs strict sharia law, and considers the shrines of the local Sufi version of Islam to be idolatrous. Sufi shrines have also been attacked by hardline Salafists in Egypt and Libya in the past year.
Locals said the attackers had threatened to destroy all of the 16 main mausoleum sites. The Unesco director general, Irina Bokova, called for an immediate halt. Late on Saturday, Tandina said Ansar Dine had halted the attacks. Attempts to contact members of the group were unsuccessful.
Ansar Dine has gained the upper hand over less-well-armed Tuareg-led separatists since the two joined forces to rout government troops and seize control in April of the northern two-thirds of the inland west African state.
The sites date from Timbuktu's golden age in the 16th century. Located on an old Saharan trading route along which salt from the Arab north was exchanged for gold and slaves from the south, Timbuktu blossomed as an Islamic seat of learning, home to priests, scribes and jurists.
Mali had in recent years sought to create a desert tourism industry around Timbuktu, but even before April's rebellion many tourists were being discouraged by a spate of kidnappings of westerners in the region claimed by al-Qaida-linked groups.
Unesco's world heritage committee said this week it had accepted the request of the Malian government to place Timbuktu on its list of endangered heritage sites.
"The committee … also asked Mali's neighbours to do all in their power to prevent the trafficking in cultural objects from these sites," it said.
The rebel seizure of the north came as the southern capital, Bamako, was struggling with the aftermath of a coup on 22 March.
Mali's neighbours are seeking UN backing for a military intervention to stabilise the country but security council members say they need more details on the mission being planned.
A European Union ambassador and a French military naval officer have called for support from countries in the East African bloc, other African countries partners to find a proper solution to the political turmoil which has engulfed Somalia over the past two decades.
The call was made by European Union Ambassador to Tanzania Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, to media representatives, who were invited to attend an EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Force Headquarters media event, held on board the French warship FS MARNE.
At this event, EU NAVFOR Force Commander Rear Admiral Jean-Baptiste Dupuis from the French Navy elaborated on a series of activities that his ship will conduct in order to get rid of the piracy threat which has been affecting a lot of the traffic on the Ocean.
The warlike marine vessel is on a four-month assignment against pirates, but it will also deal with other crimes going on around the ocean, in particular illegal fishing.
“A military action to prevent piracy must be accompanied by massive support from other partners, including the United Nations and the African Union, towards finding a political solution to Somalia, which is the main source of the problem,” remarked the ambassador.
Apart from the EU ambassador, another high-ranking officer at the event and who also made constructive comments was the French Ambassador to Tanzania, Marcel Escure, who in turn called for a concerted effort of the multi-stakeholders in order to end this bad situation.
Ambassador Sebregondi revisited a number of the problems which have arisen because of a failure to find an amicable solution in Somalia, where economic activity has been seriously affected to the extent of causing instability on almost the whole of the easterly rim of East Africa and the Horn of Africa.
“Apart from political instability, we all know how piracy has added more difficulties to a country that is commonly known for its terrible refugee problem, which has caused human sufferings and immorality to a large extent,” he added.
He equated Somalia as being a hot spot with Afghanistan, where the internal challenges have drawn world attention due to the uniqueness of the criminal operations troubling one of the most important areas for sea navigation.
“It is strange to see that the UN and AU have managed to resolve so many conflicts in Africa and elsewhere, but these bodies have failed to resolve the clan fighting, to the extent that Kenya has also been put in a very delicate security situation over the past six years,” he commented.
The ambassador reminded his hearers that Somalia is important to Europe not only because of deterring piracy but also because of the historical cooperation under the former European Economic Commission and the African Caribbean and Pacific arrangement, commonly known as the Lome’ Convention.
He mentioned that currently, due to the desperation of youth in the area, some of them have been caught several times trying to migrate to Europe as stowaways. But in the worst case some have even resolved to become terrorists, no wonder now that the Al-shabaab network is increasing its presence in the region.
The ambassador mentioned that the disintegration of Somalia has increased the cost of living in almost the whole of the East and Horn of Africa, for the reason that economic activity is affected as countries have to tighten their security.
In 2010, during the World Cup, an Al-shabaab masterminded attack led to the death of more than 70 people in Kampala, due to the fact that Uganda had provided soldiers against Somali pirates.
Around the same time there were attacks on Kenya which prompted the Nairobi government to launch a full scale war against Somali terrorists, an operation which is still ongoing up to now, although its magnitude has been reduced considerably.
Moreover freight charges have increased consumer prices, while investments in certain areas have dwindled due to security threats. The involvement of NATO, the EU and other players has diverted the use of funds which otherwise could have been spent on developmental activities.
For his part, Admiral Dupuis said his involvement was purely military, but a good number of decisions are political, while he admitted that without tightening security the whole of the maritime area from the Red Sea to the coast of Mozambique would be rendered useless.
He declared that piracy has necessitated military intervention because the world is very much dependent on the Gulf of Aden, due to the economic activity carried out there, particularly the passage of freight.
“The cost of fighting piracy is nothing in comparison to the devastation caused by pirate activity, harbours in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa will be quite unproductive due to the effect of this brigandage, if it were to go on unchecked,” he commented.
Describing the functions of his ship, the admiral said that currently Djibouti has been set up as the headquarters of anti-pirate action, and this has been so for all the partner states of the operation.
His ship this time has 215 crewmen on board together with 30 task-force staff soldiers, but although France is currently in charge of the operation there are further independent antipiracy actions being conducted by NATO, China, India and Russia.
He said his assignment amongst many other things is to be in charge of giving orders and maintaining communications, and eventually giving reports and feedback to the central command of the operation.
He elaborated further that the operation encompasses a lot of tactical measures which are based on computer work linking the US, NATO and numerous influential people in intelligence and global security networks.
The admiral revealed that the current EU mandate against piracy extends up to 2014 and is subject to renewal. Operating under the title Atalanta 2012, the admiral said that there have been big improvements in the methods of operation.
Giving statistics, he said that in 2009 there were 163 attacks on shipping, while in 2010 they increased up to 174, and in 2011 they rose again to 176, but since the beginning of this year there have been just 32 attacks, and even if they were to double they would not reach the number counted last year.
On the question of piracy, the ships attacked by pirates were 46 in 2009, 47 in 2010 and 25 in 2011, but in this year so far only 5 ships have been assaulted. On the question of normal disruptions to the shipping, 14 incidents were reported in 2009, 65 in 2010 and 28 in 2011, while 11 only have been reported so far this year.
He cited the reasons for this improvement as military action and significant international coordination, best management practices and the increasing presence of private, armed security teams on board merchant vessels.
The admiral also noted that another significant measure for the improvement of the situation was support to the Somali authorities and to countries in that region.
“Due to these efforts we have managed to disrupt five pirate groups using fishing dhows, since April 7 this year. In the same time we sent back 45 poachers who were fishing illegally, we have also managed to control shoreline operations,” he added.
He narrated further that 11 pirates were handed over to the Seychelles authorities, while 22 ships were protected while transporting food under the World Food Programme.
The general successes of the Atalanta operation since it was launched in 2008 are a 100 per cent provision of escorts to the WFP vessels delivering food to the Somali people, and the protection of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).
Moreover this operation has been successful in protecting vulnerable shipping within the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor and the High Risk Area.
As a result of good cooperation with regional governments like Kenya and the Republic of Seychelles, suspected pirates captured by the EU NAVFOR have been transferred to the competent authorities with a view to prosecution and conviction.
With up to 95 percent of EU member states’ trade by volume transported by sea and 20 per cent global trade passing through the Gulf of Aden, EU NAVFOR gives considerable effort to safeguarding trade through this strategic area.
Apart from the general discussion, journalists managed to view various parts of the war ship which has a full capacity for carrying small fighter boats and helicopters, while it can also supply goods like oil, food and spare parts to three different ships at the same time.
The main guide during this visit, Lieutenant Alexis Edme, who is public affairs officer of the European Naval Force, said piracy has made life very difficult for many players, including the soldiers who are supposed to spend long periods on the ocean wave for surveillance purposes.
The crews showed a video clip of some of the operations that the highly expensive ship has conducted on the water and in airspace simultaneously.
The international efforts by the EU, IGAD, and the EAC have helped to reduce crime in the Horn of Africa, which has always attracted organized criminal gangs who conduct their affairs openly and covertly, from drug trafficking to infiltrating stowaways, and human trafficking as well.
It was noted that depending on the season of the year, pirate activity tends to rise and dwindle with its own rhythm. Currently with the monsoon winds, piracy has been reduced, due to the fragility of the marine vessels used by pirates, so they tend to resort to other criminal activities while waiting for the weather to change and allow them to set sail.
Released aid workers at a Nairobi airport are: second from left, Steven Dennis of Canada; Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin; Astrid Sehl of Norway; and Glenn Costes of the Philippines. (Khalil Senosi/Associated Press)
Four international aid workers were abducted on June 29 from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, which is about 100 kilometres from the Somali border. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)
