User:Babraham/sandbox

Recent Events
On August 19th, 2012, Somali pirates attacked a prison in Central Somalia. They came in firing with fully automatic weapons. It was said to be believed that 2 pirates were injured during the battle. The reason behind the attacks were to attempt to break out some of there pirate accomplices. It is said that due to the monsoons, the pirates have resorted to other violence and means to make money. This shows that pirates are not only in it for the money, but are more of a criminal gang as well. With escalating violence, i feel that piracy is not at the downslope, and there is only more to come. (BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 2012)

On September 2nd, 2012, Somali pirates killed a Syrian hostage and injured another. They had been holding a ship hostage for more than 2 years now and finally killed a hostage to prove that they would kill if they did not get there money. They pirate commander said that this was to prove a point. The death signifies the first ever time that a pirate has killed a hostage due to an unpaid ransom. This shows an escalation in the pirates violence. Many believe that piracy is dying out, when in fact it is the opposite. The numbers might be fading, but the violence is escalating. (Los Angeles Times, 2012)

On September 7th, 2012, Somali Pirates shot at an Italian Naval Helicopter. The helicopter, which was on a anti piracy flight, approached a suspected pirate ship when the pirates open fired on the helicopter. One of the pilots was hit in the neck with shrapnel from the glass of the wind-shield. The Italian Navy states that they did not return fire because they were unsure if there were hostages on board, and did not want to risk the it. This shows how the pirates do not respect any sort of authority. They must be pretty crazy to fire on a military helicopter. It shows that violence is escalating tremendously in Somalia. (BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 2012)