US captain freed; Somali pirates vow to retaliate
Associated Press
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: News
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Three flawless shots. Three pirates killed.
Bracing themselves on a rolling warship in choppy seas, U.S. Navy snipers took down three Somali pirates with three single shots, freeing the American sea captain being held at gunpoint, a Navy commander said Monday.
Angry pirates vowed retaliation for the deaths, raising fears for the safety of some 230 foreign sailors still held hostage in more than a dozen ships anchored off the coast of lawless Somalia.
"From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)," Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old pirate, told The Associated Press from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl. "(U.S. forces have) become our No. 1 enemy."
Sunday's nighttime operation was a victory for the world's most powerful military, but few experts believed it would quell a rising tide of attacks in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
The stunning resolution to a five-day standoff came after pirates had agreed to let the USS Bainbridge tow their powerless lifeboat out of rough water. A fourth pirate surrendered after boarding the Bainbridge earlier Sunday and could face life in a U.S. prison. He had been seeking medical attention for a wound to his hand, military officials said.
Interviewed from Bahrain, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command chief Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said the takedown happened shortly after sailors on the Bainbridge saw the hostage-takers "with their heads and shoulders exposed."
U.S. Defense officials said snipers got the go-ahead to fire after one pirate held an AK-47 close to Capt. Richard Phillips' back. Two other pirates popped their heads up out of the lifeboat, giving snipers three clear targets, one official said.
The military officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.
The Navy released images from an unmanned drone that showed snipers positioning themselves on the fantail of the USS Bainbridge. They fired simultaneously.
Bracing themselves on a rolling warship in choppy seas, U.S. Navy snipers took down three Somali pirates with three single shots, freeing the American sea captain being held at gunpoint, a Navy commander said Monday.
Angry pirates vowed retaliation for the deaths, raising fears for the safety of some 230 foreign sailors still held hostage in more than a dozen ships anchored off the coast of lawless Somalia.
"From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages)," Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old pirate, told The Associated Press from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl. "(U.S. forces have) become our No. 1 enemy."
Sunday's nighttime operation was a victory for the world's most powerful military, but few experts believed it would quell a rising tide of attacks in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
The stunning resolution to a five-day standoff came after pirates had agreed to let the USS Bainbridge tow their powerless lifeboat out of rough water. A fourth pirate surrendered after boarding the Bainbridge earlier Sunday and could face life in a U.S. prison. He had been seeking medical attention for a wound to his hand, military officials said.
Interviewed from Bahrain, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command chief Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said the takedown happened shortly after sailors on the Bainbridge saw the hostage-takers "with their heads and shoulders exposed."
U.S. Defense officials said snipers got the go-ahead to fire after one pirate held an AK-47 close to Capt. Richard Phillips' back. Two other pirates popped their heads up out of the lifeboat, giving snipers three clear targets, one official said.
The military officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.
The Navy released images from an unmanned drone that showed snipers positioning themselves on the fantail of the USS Bainbridge. They fired simultaneously.
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