Somali // Current TV

Private Security Guards Shoot Somali Pirates

CarlosBobthe3rd
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1 month ago
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How Do Somali Pirates Get Their Ransoms?

You may always wonder how this little skinny black men in the skiffs out in the ocean... more

worrg
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3 months ago
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Somali pirate sentenced to life in attack on yacht Quest

A Somali man who admitted being one of the commanders of an attack on a yacht that led... more

artq8
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6 months ago
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2 comments

Jeremy Scahill Reveals CIA Facility, Prison in Somalia as U.S. Expands Covert Ops in Stricken Nation

In a new investigative report published by The Nation magazine, independent journalist... more

treewolf39
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11 months ago
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10 comments

British scientists develop disorientating laser weapon to defend ships from Somali pirates

It's an invention that will send a shiver down the spines of pirates everywhere.
A new type of laser weapon effective against moving targets more than a mile away is being developed by British scientists.
Defence company BAE Systems has come up with the non-lethal device in response to the increasing number of commercial, and private, vessels hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
The laser works by enshrouding the ship using it in a green shroud that leaves the pirates unable to steer a direct course or aim their weapons accurately.
The device, which works in daylight and at night, has been subjected to trials at the Pershore Lasers Trials Range in Worcestershire.
Roy Clarke, spokesman for BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre, said: 'We are using the laser as a kind of dummy sun that we can hide the vessel behind.
'As you go up in power with a laser, you get to a point looking at it creates a big bright light that dominates everything in your field of view.'
The laser works by emitting a concentrated blast of green light that temporarily dazzles anyone who looks at it.
The result is to completely disorientate pirates, leaving them unable to find, let alone board, a target vessel.
BAE Systems' new anti-piracy department has been developing the weapon in conjunction with a high frequency radar that can locate the small boats commonly used by Somali pirates.
The radar then directs the laser towards the approaching boat.
It is, however, harmless and does not damage the eyesight of anyone looking at it, should the laser dazzle an innocent craft.
Bryan Hore, the head of the BAE Systems anti-piracy department, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We have started to look at the piracy issue over the past 18 months due to the increasing threats to vessels around the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
'The laser provides a secondary capability over larger distances as it can act like a warning.
'Pirates approaching a vessel rely on the element of surprise, so by detecting those vessels and directing a laser onto them more than a kilometre away, it provides a clear signal to them.
'As the pirates come closer to about 400 or 500 metres of the ship, the power of the laser can be increased so that it affects their concentration and distracts them.
'We are also going to look at how different patterns and flickering can increase that affect.'
Source: Daily MailIt's an invention that will send a shiver down the spines of pirates everywhere.... more

ras_menelik
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1 year ago
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The Youth of Garissa & G-Youth

Introducing the children of Nomads and how G-Youth, a local NGO, is helping them... more

aliciasully
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2 years ago
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Hey Electronic Arts, when you going to do a pirate video game?

My next Vanguard special due out Dec 2, is called Remote Control Warfare. Without giving too much away the premise is simple. As warfare evolves its becoming increasingly sophisticated, and now technology is allowing us to conduct over the horizon warfare in a way we never could before. One of the technologies we look at is the Predator drone. The Predator is becoming an increasingly famous player on the battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But one of the interesting things I found when I was researching this story, with producer Lauren Cerre, is that the Predator is actually being employed in over a dozen countries right now. And sure enough it related to two of my old stories, Pirates and Mogadishu. They are using the predator to patrol over 2.1 million square miles of ocean in the Gulf of Aden which has become a hotbed of maritime piracy.

What Lauren and I found on our journey around the country looking at the changing face of warfare, was that war is rapidly is starting to more and more resemble a video game. In one scene we even go to a military recruiting center that uses video games to solicit tech savvy gamers into the Army to fight future wars. Since the Predator is kind of the mother of all remote control technologies, and they are actually employing it against pirates right now, I couldn’t help but think that the gaming industry cant be far behind. There is actually a blurring of the line between actual war, and video games that depict it. Although I'm not a gamer at all (as is very obvious in the story as I crash about everything they have me play), I am pretty sure that a counter-piracy video game would be pretty cool, and realistic too. So, pirates, video, games, remote control warfare; that’s got to be a winning combination. Thank you EA, you know where to send the commission check to.

Recently on the Vanguard Blog:
- Christof’s Doc, the Porn Community, and Obscenity… - Mitch Koss
- You Have a College Degree: So What? - Tracey Chang
- What Transformers 2 has to do with Japan's falling population - Adam Yamaguchi
- Why Should You Trust Us? - Mitch Koss
- My Second Tour of Sri Lanka - Mariana van Zeller
- Chinese Mobsters and Megacities - Joanne ShenMy next Vanguard special due out Dec 2, is called Remote Control Warfare. Without... more

klarsen
added this
2 years ago
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Captured by Somali pirates - A journalist's first hand story

I got an email today from Kassim Mohamed a Collective Journalism contributor who produced a story for us about Kenya called Paintbrush, Not Bullets.

Kassim pointed me to this amazing story he penned for the blog of the Committee to Protect Journalists: A journalist in the hands of Somali pirates. He details his journey following the trail of Somali pirate money from Nairobi's slums to the beaches of Somalia's Puntland. Here's an excerpt:
Along the route, a confrontation ensues between the pirates onboard while deep in the Gulf of Aden. A section is opposed to the idea of a journalist recording and visiting the highly guarded territory. Two of them turn, pointing their AK-47 rifles at me. At this point I am speechless that the men who only a few minutes ago were friends are baying for my blood.

After more than four hours roaming the Gulf of Aden, we finally come ashore. They lead me to a dark room and hold me hostage for eight hours, often threatening me: “You’re going to die in the next four hours if we don’t get a kill today,” one of them says.

My Sony H4 Zoom recorder is my only companion as I keep the record button on, making sure that I leave evidence even if they end my life. At this point, I reflect on my initial questions that led me to this mission: Who is behind this trade and does it have links to the development that is on going back in Eastleigh? My nose for news is slowly being replaced by a desire to survive the ordeal. I keep praying for a quick intervention. I see July 31 as my last day on Earth.

Eventually, they release me, but not before a parting shot: Western forces must respect Somalia. “You must tell the international community that we are here to stay despite what the U.S., Russia, and France do,” the ringleader, Guled, said. “They should respect our waters and avoid dumping waste here.”
I'm exceptionally happy to see Kassim is safe and sound. I'm also glad to see his story is making the rounds - Neal Ungerleider picked it up on True/Slant as well.

Recently from the Current News Blog:
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- Oxy beats out crack in San Francisco's Tenderloin
- Witch children of NigeriaI got an email today from Kassim Mohamed a Collective Journalism contributor who... more

afitzgerald
added this
2 years ago
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Toxic Waste Behind Somali Pirates + video

In 1991, when the government of Somalia collapsed, foreign interests seized the... more

worrg
added this
2 years ago
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Somali arrested at airport with chemicals, syringe

A man tried to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month carrying powdered... more

HowdyDo
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2 years ago
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Somaliland stability 'at risk'

Somaliland has been hailed as a beacon of stability in the troubled Horn of Africa... more

Ashantima
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2 years ago
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A journalist in the hands of Somali pirates

CJ contributor Kassim Mohammed was captured this summer by Somali pirates. He wrote up... more

afitzgerald
added this
2 years ago
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3 comments

FBI Director: Al Qaeda-Linked Somali Group Could Attack U.S. In Near Future

A group affiliated with al Qaeda could strike the United States in the near future.... more

nocompromise
added this
2 years ago
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1 comment

U.S. Weapons End Up in Somali Insurgents’ Hands

According to the Toronto Globe & Mail, Somali politicians are saying there is... more

The_Global_Report
added this
2 years ago
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1 comment

Thousands of Dolphins block Somali pirates

Really? I keep thinking this is photoshop'd, but it turns up in multiple news... more

vistapoint
added this
3 years ago
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Pirates repelled from Italian cruise ship

A group of pirates were chased away from an Italian cruise ship near the Seychelles... more

Kepano
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3 years ago
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2 more ships hijacked at somali coast

Somalia — Pirates seized Lebanese 5,000-ton MV Sea Horse and Greek 35,000-ton MV... more

barnabasnagy
added this
3 years ago
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Somali pirates demand 2 Million for Hostage Captain (Video)

**** Update: 15:08 CNN: April 10 (Reuters) - Somali pirates holding an American... more

ClipsFC
added this
3 years ago
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