French Navy Ship Crew Repels Somali Pirates

A band of Somali pirates found themselves in trouble after mistakenly attacking a French navy ship, thinking that it was a harmless cargo vessel.

The pirates attacked the ship in small boats in the dead of the night some 500km off Somalia’s coast, French military spokesman Admiral Christophe Prazuck said.

But in a counterattack, French navy ship, The Somme, repelled and chased the pirates, capturing five of them.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, leading to widespread lawlessness, and pirates rule its coastline with near impunity.

Approximately two dozen ships from European Union countries patrol the waters off the Somali Coast. [ES]