SEYCHELLES COAST GUARD RESCUES FISHERMEN
Ocean terrorists from Somalia have taken another beating from the Seychelles Coast Guard, when earlier in the week they were overpowered and outgunned by two navy vessels in hot pursuit after an SOS call about being seajacked came in from the fishing boat. Aerial surveillance, using the Indian sponsored Dornier aircraft, aided in the swift location of the boat and two navy ships were dispatched to pursue and ambush the terrorists about 150 nautical miles off the main island group of the archipelago. An apparent shoot out, initiated by the Somalis who attempted to flee, resulted in three of them being wounded while one of the four rescued Seychellois fishermen too was injured. They are receiving initial treatment on board of the navy ship and will be assessed further upon landing in a few hours at the main Seychellois sea port in Victoria.
The Seychelles government has now repeatedly demonstrated to the world that determined and robust action produced the desired results, as several seajacked boats and fishing vessels have in past months been recovered and the ocean terrorist been brought to justice.
The trials of several of those captured in the past have been concluded and the convicts are now serving 20 year sentences, although a repatriation agreement has earlier this week been signed with Somali authorities, ensuring that the criminals will continue to serve their full sentences in a Somali prison once they have been deported home. This cannot be a welcome prospect for them surely when they have to leave Seychelles hospitality, albeit given to them in prison and have to rot away behind bars in Somalia.
The naval coalition can and in fact must take a leaf from the Seychelles in regard of rescue missions and their robust handling of such situations, and it is high time that the rules of engagement, as often demanded here in the past, are being changed beyond monitoring, determent and containment into offensive operations to bring the ocean terrorists down. This must include denying them land bases through appropriate action from the air and on the ground to achieve this objective. It must also be a certainty for the terrorists, that once they leave Somalia’s territorial waters, and look and act like pirates, the outcome would be swift and final for them, instead of trying to appease the weeping and politically so correct ‘advocates of human rights’, who show more compassion for the aggressors than their victims.
Meanwhile, congratulations to the government of Seychelles, their brave coast guard and navy personnel and welcome home to those rescued.
