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Hi-tech Somali pirates outgunned by Aussie navy
Daily Telegraph (Sydney) ^ | 30th October 2009 | Max Blenkin, aboard HMAS Toowoomba

Posted on 10/31/2009 6:03:08 PM PDT by naturalman1975

UP close and personal, the modern day pirate gang is a mob of scruffily dressed Somali males armed to the teeth with AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons.

And the group encountered by those aboard the Anzac Frigate HMAS Toowoomba in the Indian Ocean last month were distinctly unhappy that their plan to hijack a Portuguese freighter had been thwarted.

But they weren't about to admit they were pirates.

Communicating through a Somali language interpreter, Lieutenant Jace (Jace) Hutchison, officer in charge of Toowoomba's nine-member boarding party, asked just what they had in mind in approaching the Portuguese vessel.

They told me their water was too hot to drink and that they were closing in on the merchant vessel to ask for more water, said Lt Hutchison. But they had plenty of water aboard, he added.

Also aboard the twin outboard motor-powered vessel were six AK-47s, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and four rockets plus a G3 automatic rifle and several hundred rounds of ammunition.

They also had mobile phones and GPS satellite navigation equipment.

But they were unhappy and scared, Lt Hutchison recalled.

When we did identify who we thought the captain was, we decided he was probably the one who looked the least scared, he said.

He also didn't seem to want to help out too much.

Lt Hutchison had no doubt at all piracy was the plan. The skiff was about 100 nautical miles (185km) off Somalia. There was food and fuel aboard but no fishing gear.

With that many weapons, it's a bit tough to convince anyone you're fishermen, he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailytelegraph.com.au ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: maritime; pirates; somalipirates; untrainedteenagers
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To: MV=PY

Carpet bomb their country of origin, problem solved.


21 posted on 10/31/2009 7:40:19 PM PDT by doc1019
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To: naturalman1975

Australia is showing the most sign of recovery from the disease of liberalism of any western country. Good for them!


22 posted on 10/31/2009 7:46:00 PM PDT by Psalm 144 (What did you think NEW WORLD ORDER meant? The Constitution? States' rights? Individual liberty?)
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To: naturalman1975

Oops! My grenade just happened to fall in your skiff!

BOOM!


23 posted on 10/31/2009 7:49:11 PM PDT by aShepard
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To: naturalman1975

THrow their guns and such overboard.

Tell them to go home. If they come back - THEY go overboard.


24 posted on 10/31/2009 8:18:40 PM PDT by ASOC (Cave quid dicis, quando, et cui)
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To: naturalman1975

LMAO-flying Code CY (boats are coming to you)-just in case the pirates brought along their copy of Pub 102! Seriously though, BZ.


25 posted on 10/31/2009 8:51:51 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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To: GATOR NAVY

That’s why we’re the professionals - and they’re not.


26 posted on 10/31/2009 9:02:42 PM PDT by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
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To: omega4179
"extreme prejudice"

Some pirates were taken back to England and hanged. Like Captain Kidd I believe. I'm certainly not against hanging some of these idiots.

27 posted on 11/01/2009 4:29:32 AM PST by driftless2 (for long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion)
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