Four pirates transferred to the Netherlands
(B2) Four Somali pirates will be prosecuted for piracy and violence against Dutch troops in the Netherlands. The suspects arrived on Tuesday evening (November 6) at Eindhoven Air Base, via Dar es Salaam where the ship had stopped. They had been intercepted during an operation of the Hr Ms Rotterdam off the coast of Somalia on October 25, during a “ routine check », of a dhow which turned out to be in fact a fishing boat with a Pakistani and Iranian crew captured by the pirates. Nb: the Rotterdam is one of two ships operating on behalf of NATO as part of the anti-piracy operation Ocean Shield.
Read also: Dutch navy operation near the Somali coast
Rather eventful operation
During the military intervention, the dhow caught fire. The results, now complete and made official by the Dutch navy: two of the crew members disappeared and another was killed during the exchange of fire (*). The Dutch navy does not specify whether it was a shot by pirates or Dutch soldiers; the investigation could eventually clarify this. Two pirates were injured as well as six sailors. All treated on board the Rotterdam by the on-board medical team. The identification of the suspects was made by the captain of the dhow who recognized six people as pirates. Two of them were quickly released. Because they were minors at the time of the events, specifies the Dutch navy. For the rest, the investigation continues, led by the royal military police, under the authority of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
(NGV)
(*) Which incidentally confirms information given by B2 at the material time – which had not been relayed at the time by most of the media. These having happily mixed the sailors of the boarded crew and the pirates.
