The French awacs back in action on the Indian Ocean
A joint air-sea operation enabled the dismantling, on Wednesday 24 November, of a pirate group 280 miles northeast of Mogadishu, the EU anti-piracy HQ (EUNavfor Atalanta) has just confirmed. According to a modus vivendi already tested near the Seychelles, the E-3F (French Awacs) spotted a suspicious trace; the Luxembourg Merlin III, after an overflight, was able to confirm that it was a group of pirates. And these were picked up by the supply ship Somme (A631) which thus signs its first arrest since joining the European mission.
The mother ship, a whaler, tried to flee by accelerating. Warning shots got the better of this escape attempt. 7 pirates were arrested. The skiff, on the other hand, was able to flee with 2 pirates on board. The pirate material that was on board was seized, the whaler destroyed, the suspects identified. But released quickly, because "there was no clear evidence of prosecution“, we say to Atalanta. Strong presumptions but nothing obvious to go before a Kenyan judge … especially at the moment!
