UK, US and Canadian forces rescue Norwegian oil tanker
NATO forces foiled an attack by Somali pirates on a Norwegian oil tanker, and briefly detained seven gunmen after hunting them down under cover of darkness, Reuters reports.
Michael McWhinnie, a spokesman on the Canadian warship Winnipeg, said it, a British naval supply ship and US warship Halyburton all responded after pirates attacked the 80,000-tonne MV Front Ardenne in the Gulf of Aden late Saturday.
The gunmen, who were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, fled south in their skiff as the NATO forces approached, dumping most of their weapons overboard.
McWhinnie told Reuters a helicopter dispatched by the Winnipeg fired several warning rounds in front of the pirates' small craft from its machinegun, but they ignored it.
The Canadian warship then pursued them for hours through the night, hunting the gang in the dark.
Government plea for cash
The Somali government will present proposals to tackle the pirates at a major donors' meeting on Somalia taking place in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday.
It says it needs more money to tackle insecurity on land and to provide jobs for the country's many unemployed young men.
