A French warship has captured eleven suspected Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean some 350 nautical miles off the Somali coast, said the European Union's anti-piracy mission on Friday.
The suspected pirates were captured by the security forces on board French warship FS Nivose, which chased down the pirates believed to have attacked a French merchant vessel on Thursday.
The pirates were detained after a helicopter on board the French warship tracked the group suspected of attacking the French merchant vessel.
The French forces om board the warship recovered a rocket launcher, grappling hooks and several fuel barrels from the pirates, before sinking the pirates' mother boat and a smaller speed boat.
The incident took place a day after the Spanish trawler Albacan repelled a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean after private security guards on the trawler opened fire on the attacking trawler.
The Somali coast, particularity the Gulf of Aden, has been infected with piracy in recent years. More than 160 pirate attacks have been reported in the waters off Somalia last year.
The pirates have managed to hijack at least 34 vessels since the beginning of last year, and are currently holding some 10 ships and 200 hostages. Generally, the crew and the vessels are returned unharmed on receiving the demanded ransom.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's government in 1991. Currently, a weak UN-backed interim government under President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is trying to enforce its authority in the country, most of which is controlled by various Islamist insurgent groups.
Pirate attacks off the Somali coast have continued despite the presence of several warships, deployed by navies of the NATO, the European Union, Russia, China, South Korea and India, in the region to protect cargo and cruise ships against piracy.
The UN Security Council has approved four resolutions since June to promote international efforts in fighting the escalating piracy problem off the coast of Somalia, and has authorized countries engaged in anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast to conduct land and air attacks on Somali pirates after obtaining prior permission from the Somali government.
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