Spy planes are being used for the first time to track the movements of Somali pirates as they plunder hundreds of ships, a NATO report will reveal this week. Satellites may also be employed to identify gangs armed with rocket-propelled grenades and submachine guns off the Horn of Africa, the report said.
The NATO revelations come amid growing concern for the plight of Paul and Rachel Chandler, the middle-aged British couple held by bandits after being captured on their boat two weeks ago. Reports last week claimed that they had been moved inland and were being fought over by armed rival gangs.
The need for better surveillance of pirates comes as the number of attacks on ships increases and the number of hostages taken multiplies. There was a lull in hijackings during this season’s monsoon, but pirates have stepped up attacks in the past few weeks and are now holding some 10 vessels and at least 187 hostages.
The draft report, written by Lord Jopling, a NATO adviser, says the US Navy is flying unmanned aircraft from the Seychelles and argues that more spy planes and satellites should be employed to combat a growing threat.
The recommendations will help boost Operation Atalanta, an EU campaign to stop the piracy.
A resolution to be presented by Jopling to NATO’s assembly this week urges member governments and parliaments to contribute additional “aerial surveillance assets” and consider the deployment of satellites from the European space agency to help combat pirates off the horn of Africa.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not