For the second day in a row, US forces have apprehended pirates in the Gulf of Aden, treacherous waters off the Somali coast where US and international forces have been battling pirates preying on international vessels.
The US Navy said it apprehended nine suspected pirates on Thursday after responding to a distress signal from the Indian-flagged vessel Premdivya, which said it was fired upon by men in a nearby skiff who were trying to board their vessel.
WARNING SHOTS
In a statement from the 5th Fleet’s Bahrain headquarters, the Navy said a helicopter from the USS Vella Gulf fired two warning shots at the pirates to stop them from fleeing.
When authorities boarded the skiff and searched it, they found weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, and the suspected pirates were taken aboard the USS Vella Gulf.
A day earlier US forces operating in the area arrested seven suspected pirates — the Navy’s first arrest since a new US anti-piracy task force was established this year.
The seven pirates apprehended on Wednesday were transferred via helicopter from the Vella Gulf to the USNS Lewis and Clark on Thursday.
Associated Press television footage showed some of the men, all handcuffed and wearing leg shackles and white jumpsuits, being escorted from helicopters onto the ship.
The men, who were not allowed to talk to each other, were given a meal, a blanket and a towel and bar of soap with which to take a shower. With the help of a translator, US forces were trying to get information from the men such as their ages and nationalities.
The men were then to be taken to a makeshift holding area surrounded by razor wire, where they were watched by US forces.
The seven were apprehended after the US Navy responded to a distress call from the Marshall Islands-flagged Polaris, which said men in a skiff had tried to board their vessel using a ladder.
A US vessel raced to the location where US troops apprehended the pirates, who were armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.
Associated Press television footage also showed pictures of the boat the men used while trying to take the ship hostage, a small skiff that was lifted by crane onto the Lewis and Clark.
JURISDICTION
Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet, said the seven would eventually be handed over to Kenya. The US announced an agreement last month allowing for suspected pirates to be handed over to Kenya.
Officials are gathering more information and evidence on Thursday’s incident so they could turn the suspects over to authorities for prosecution, most likely also to Kenya as well, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number