Free Republic

President Biden on Monday mourned the loss of two Navy SEALs who are presumed dead after they went missing off the coast of Somalia earlier this month during a special covert mission to seize Iranian missile parts bound for Yemen. Biden said in a statement that the presumed deaths of the two SEALs were a “profound loss for our country.” “These SEALs represented the very best of our country, pledging their lives to protect their fellow Americans,” Biden said. “Our hearts go out to the family members, loved ones, friends, and shipmates who are grieving for these two brave Americans

Toughening its stand on the Indian sailors hostage crisis in Somalian waters, the Indian Navy today sent a Talwar class frigate to the Somalia coast to deal with any exigency during ongoing negotiations, even as the government rejected the pirates' offer for a swap with captured brigands. Overseas Indian Affairs minister Vayalar Ravi said the Indian government rejected the swap offer made by Somali pirates in order to get the abducted Indian sailors freed. The Government, he told mediapersons here, would not bargain with pirates for the release of the sailors, and added that his Ministry was coordinating with the...

The Horn of Africa has become a hotbed of piracy due to outdated maritime laws, the lack of a Somali government and gut-wrenching poverty. Where there is a sea, there are pirates. - Greek proverb To many people, the term "piracy" evokes images of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Until last year piracy was an annoyingly persistent low-level irritant for maritime nations, clustered around several global hotspots, including African waters, the Straits of Malacca and relatively isolated incidents in Latin America. Last year the problem metastasized in the waters of Somalia, where now a motley international coalition of about...

ABOUT 300 Ethiopian troops crossed into Somalia today, a top Islamist said, as Islamic fighters who wrested control of Mogadishu moved inland toward the seat of Somalia's interim government. Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf, a former warlord, is closely allied with Addis Ababa, which was instrumental in his election after peace talks in Kenya in 2004. "There are Ethiopian troops just past the border and coming in," Islamic Courts Union Chairman Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said, citing the incursion in Dollow in southwest Somalia this morning. The Ethiopian Government had no immediate comment. Dollow is near the intersection of the Kenyan,...