Suspected pirate attack in Gulf of Aden raises concerns about growing Somali piracy
Suspected pirate attack in Gulf of Aden raises concerns about growing Somali piracy/node/2508211/middle-east
Suspected pirate attack in Gulf of Aden raises concerns about growing Somali piracy
Armed Somali pirates carrying out preparations to a skiff in Hobyo, northeastern Somalia, ahead of new attacks on ships sailing in the Gulf of Aden. (AFP file photo)
Suspected pirate attack in Gulf of Aden raises concerns about growing Somali piracy
Somali piracy in the region at the time cost the world’s economy some $7 billion — with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group
Updated 11 May 2024
AP
DUBAI: A European naval force detained six suspected pirates on Friday after they opened fire on an oil tanker traveling through the Gulf of Aden, officials said, likely part of a growing number of piracy attacks emanating from Somalia.
The attack on the Marshall Islands-flagged Chrystal Arctic comes as Houthis have also been attacking ships traveling through the crucial waterway, the Red Sea, and the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait connecting them.
The assaults have slowed commercial traffic through the key maritime route onward to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
The pirates shot at the tanker from a small ship “carrying weapons and ladders,” according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations Center, which oversees Mideast shipping routes.
The pirates opened fire first at the Chrystal Arctic, whose armed onboard security team returned fire at them, the UKMTO said.
BACKGROUND
Maritime sources say pirates may be encouraged by a relaxation of security or may be taking advantage of the chaos caused by attacks on shipping by the Houthis.
The pirates then abandoned their attempt to take the tanker, which continued on its way with all its crew safe, the UKMTO said.
Hours later, the EU naval force in the region known as Operation Atalanta said a frigate operating in the region detained six suspected pirates.
The frigate seized the pirates, given “the unsafe condition of their skiff” and said that some had “injuries of varied severity.”
It was not immediately clear if those injured suffered gunshot wounds from the exchange of fire with the Chrystal Arctic.
The EU force declined to elaborate “due to the security of the operations.”
Once-rampant piracy off the Somali coast diminished after a peak in 2011. That year, there were 237 reported attacks in waters off Somalia.
Somali piracy in the region at the time cost the world’s economy some $7 billion — with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.
Increased naval patrols, a strengthening central government in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, and other efforts saw the piracy beaten back.
However, concerns about new attacks have grown in recent months.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, five incidents were reported off Somalia in the first quarter of 2024.
“These incidents were attributed to Somali pirates who demonstrate mounting capabilities, targeting vessels at great distances from the Somali coast,” the bureau warned in April.
It added that there had been “several reported hijacked dhows and fishing vessels, which are ideal mother ships to launch attacks at distances from the Somali coastline.”
In March, the Indian navy detained dozens of pirates who seized a bulk carrier and took its 17 crew hostage.
In April, pirates release 23 crew members of the Bangladesh-flagged cargo carrier MV Abdullah after seizing the vessel.
The terms of the release are not immediately known.
These attacks come as the Houthi campaign has targeted shipping since November as part of their pressure campaign to stop the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip.
Some Israeli soldiers refuse to keep fighting in Gaza
Seven soldiers who’ve refused to continue fighting in Gaza spoke with AP, describing how Palestinians were indiscriminately killed and houses destroyed
Ishai Menuchin, spokesperson for Yesh Gvul, a movement for soldiers refusing to serve, said he works with more than 80 soldiers who have refused to fight and that there are hundreds more who feel similarly but remain silent
Updated 14 January 2025
AP
JERUSALEM: Yotam Vilk says the image of Israeli soldiers killing an unarmed Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip is seared in his mind.
An officer in the armored corps, Vilk said the instructions were to shoot any unauthorized person who entered an Israeli-controlled buffer zone in Gaza. He saw at least 12 people killed, he said, but it is the shooting of the teen that he can’t shake.
“He died as part of a bigger story. As part of the policy of staying there and not seeing Palestinians as people,” Vilk, 28, told The Associated Press.
Vilk is among a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 15-month conflict and refusing to serve anymore, saying they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines. While the movement is small — some 200 soldiers signed a letter saying they’d stop fighting if the government didn’t secure a ceasefire — soldiers say it’s the tip of the iceberg and they want others to come forward.
Destroyed buildings inside the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
Their refusal comes at a time of mounting pressure on Israel and Hamas to wind down the fighting. Ceasefire talks are underway, and both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have called for a deal by the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Seven soldiers who’ve refused to continue fighting in Gaza spoke with AP, describing how Palestinians were indiscriminately killed and houses destroyed. Several said they were ordered to burn or demolish homes that posed no threat, and they saw soldiers loot and vandalize residences.
Soldiers are required to steer clear of politics, and they rarely speak out against the army. After Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel quickly united behind the war launched against the militant group. Divisions here have grown as the war progresses, but most criticism has focused on the mounting number of soldiers killed and the failure to bring home hostages, not actions in Gaza.
Yuval Green, center, and Yotam Vilk, left, take part in a panel discussion for soldiers refusing to serve in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
International rights groups have accused Israel of war crimes and genocide in Gaza. The International Court of Justice is investigating genocide allegations filed by South Africa. The International Criminal Court is seeking the arrests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Israel adamantly rejects genocide allegations and says it takes extraordinary measures to minimize civilian harm in Gaza. The army says it never intentionally targets civilians, and investigates and punishes cases of suspected wrongdoing. But rights groups have long said the army does a poor job of investigating itself.
The army told AP it condemns the refusal to serve and takes any call for refusal seriously, with each case examined individually. Soldiers can go to jail for refusing to serve, but none who signed the letter has been detained, according to those who organized the signatures.
Soldiers’ reactions in Gaza.
Yotam Vilk, who served in an armored unit in the Gaza Strip and is now one of a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 15-month conflict, poses for a portrait in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
When Vilk entered Gaza in November 2023, he said, he thought the initial use of force might bring both sides to the table. But as the war dragged on, he said he saw the value of human life disintegrate.
On the day the Palestinian teenager was killed last August, he said, Israeli troops shouted at him to stop and fired warning shots at his feet, but he kept moving. He said others were also killed walking into the buffer zone — the Netzarim Corridor, a road dividing northern and southern Gaza.
Vilk acknowledged it was hard to determine whether people were armed, but said he believes soldiers acted too quickly.
Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees in Gaza, on Dec. 8, 2023. (AP)
In the end, he said, Hamas is to blame for some deaths in the buffer zone — he described one Palestinian detained by his unit who said Hamas paid people $25 to walk into the corridor to gauge the army’s reaction.
Some soldiers told AP it took time to digest what they saw in Gaza. Others said they became so enraged they decided they’d stop serving almost immediately.
Yuval Green, a 27-year-old medic, described abandoning his post last January after spending nearly two months in Gaza, unable to live with what he’d seen.
He said soldiers desecrated homes, using black markers meant for medical emergencies to scribble graffiti, and looted homes, looking for prayer beads to collect as souvenirs.
The final straw, he said, was his commander ordering troops to burn down a house, saying he didn’t want Hamas to be able to use it. Green said he sat in a military vehicle, choking on fumes amid the smell of burning plastic. He found the fire vindictive — he said he saw no reason to take more from Palestinians than they’d already lost. He left his unit before their mission was complete.
Green said that as much as he loathed what he witnessed, “the cruelty was at least in part provoked by the havoc wreaked by Hamas on Oct. 7, which people can forget.”
He said he wants his actions in refusing to serve to help break the vicious cycle of violence on all sides.
The soldiers’ refusal as an act of protest
Soldiers for the Hostages — the group behind the letter troops signed — is trying to garner momentum, holding an event this month in Tel Aviv and gathering more signatures. A panel of soldiers spoke about what they’d seen in Gaza. Organizers distributed poster-size stickers with a Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
Max Kresch, an organizer, said soldiers can use their positions to create change. “We need to use our voice to speak up in the face of injustice, even if that is unpopular,” he said.
But some who fought and lost colleagues call the movement a slap in the face. More than 830 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the war, according to the army.
“They are harming our ability to defend ourselves,” said Gilad Segal, a 42-year-old paratrooper who spent two months in Gaza at the end of 2023. He said everything the army did was necessary, including the flattening of houses used as Hamas hideouts. It’s not a soldier’s place to agree or disagree with the government, he argued.
Ishai Menuchin, spokesperson for Yesh Gvul, a movement for soldiers refusing to serve, said he works with more than 80 soldiers who have refused to fight and that there are hundreds more who feel similarly but remain silent.
Effects on soldiers
Some of the soldiers who spoke to AP said they feel conflicted and regretful, and they’re talking to friends and relatives about what they saw to process it.
Many soldiers suffer from “moral injury,” said Tuly Flint, a trauma therapy specialist who’s counseled hundreds of them during the war. It’s a response when people see or do something that goes against their beliefs, he said, and it can result in a lack of sleep, flashbacks and feelings of unworthiness. Talking about it and trying to spark change can help, Flint said.
One former infantry soldier told AP about his feelings of guilt — he said he saw about 15 buildings burned down unnecessarily during a two-week stint in late 2023. He said that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t have fought.
“I didn’t light the match, but I stood guard outside the house. I participated in war crimes,” said the soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity over fears of retaliation. “I’m so sorry for what we’ve done.”
Macron says new Lebanon PM represents ‘hope for change’
Lebanon has been managed by a caretaker government for the past two years, and Salam’s backers hope he can reduce the militant group Hezbollah’s domination of Lebanese politics and strengthen the central government
Updated 14 January 2025
AFP
PARIS: France on Monday hailed the appointment of Nawaf Salam as Lebanon’s new prime minister, saying he had the will to help the war-scarred country emerge from its deep economic crisis.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun picked Salam, the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice, as prime minister.
“A hope for change is rising,” France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on X, wishing him “success in forming a government in the service of all Lebanese people.”
A majority of Lebanese lawmakers endorsed Salam to form a government for a country whose economy has been battered by the conflicts engulfing its neighbors.
Lebanon has been managed by a caretaker government for the past two years, and Salam’s backers hope he can reduce the militant group Hezbollah’s domination of Lebanese politics and strengthen the central government.
Macron’s office said Salam was “recognized for his integrity and his skills.”
He “has already expressed in the past his desire to lead the reforms that the Lebanese and the international community expect to put Lebanon back on the path to restoring its sovereignty and the reforms necessary for the economic recovery of the country.”
Macron’s office said he hoped Salam’s government could be both “strong” and “represent all the diversity of the Lebanese people.”
The agreement on a new prime minister “opens extremely promising prospects” to overcome Lebanon’s financial crisis, it said.
“It is about rebuilding trust and we are in a framework that will allow us to reassure international donors, carry out the expected reforms and build a financing framework,” the French presidency said.
Macron is expected to visit Lebanon shortly to show his support for the new leadership.
He has recently also spoken to Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, to Najib Mikati, the outgoing prime minister, and to Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druze community.
Turkiye’s Erdogan launches ‘Year of the Family’ with an attack on the LGBTQ+ community
Despite its low profile in Turkiye, the LGBTQ+ community has emerged as one of the main targets of the government and its supporters in recent years
Updated 14 January 2025
AP
ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the launch of Turkiye’s “Year of the Family” on Monday with an attack on the LGBTQ+ community and the announcement of measures to boost birth rates.
Citing the “historical truth that a strong family paves the way for a strong state,” Erdogan unveiled a series of financial measures to support young families.
The president returned to themes he has espoused before about LGBTQ+ people, including the portrayal of the LGBTQ+ movement as part of a foreign conspiracy aimed at undermining Turkiye.
“It is our common responsibility to protect our children and youth from harmful trends and perverse ideologies. Neoliberal cultural trends are crossing borders and penetrating all corners of the world,” he told an audience in Ankara. “They also lead to LGBT and other movements gaining ground.
“The target of gender neutralization policies, in which LGBT is used as a battering ram, is the family. Criticism of LGBT is immediately silenced, just like the legitimate criticisms of Zionism. Anyone who defends nature and the family is subject to heavy oppression.”
Despite its low profile in Turkiye, the LGBTQ+ community has emerged as one of the main targets of the government and its supporters in recent years.
Pride parades have been banned since 2015, with those seeking to participate facing tear gas and police barricades. In recent years, meanwhile, anti-LGBTQ+ rallies have received state support.
Turning to the “alarming” decline in the population growth rate, Erdogan said Turkiye was “losing blood” and recalled his 2007 demand that families have at least three children.
The president also pointed to people getting married later in life and rising divorce rates as causes for concern. Turkiye’s annual population growth rate dropped from 2.53 percent in 2015 to 0.23 percent last year.
“If we do not take the necessary measures, the problem will reach irreparable levels. In such an environment, population loss is inevitable,” he added.
To combat the threat to the family, Erdogan revealed policies such as interest-free loans for newlyweds; improved monetary allowances for the parents of new-born children; financial, counselling and housing support to encourage new families; and free or low-cost childcare.
UAE president welcomes Azerbaijani counterpart to Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
President Ilham Aliyev reaffirms his country’s dedication to enhancement of growing ties with the Emirates in various sectors
Updated 14 January 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, on Monday greeted Ilham Aliyev, his counterpart from Azerbaijan, who is visiting the Emirates to take part in Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
During their meeting at Qasr Al-Shati in the capital, the leaders discussed ways in which cooperation between their countries might be enhanced in terms of the economy, investment, development, renewable energy and climate action.
They also examined key aspects of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and its role in efforts to enhance global awareness of the challenges related to sustainability, the Emirates News Agency reported. Aliyev also reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s dedication to growing ties with the UAE in various sectors.
Other officials present at the meeting included Mohammed Murad Al-Balushi, the Emirati ambassador to Azerbaijan, and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week began on Jan. 12 and continues until Jan. 18.
Moroccan activist jailed for criticism of earthquake response
El Haouz province, to the south of Marrakech, was one of the areas hit hardest by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the region in September 2023, killing close to 3,000 people and wounding 5,600
Updated 14 January 2025
AFP
RABAT: A Moroccan activist who criticized the kingdom’s response to a major 2023 earthquake was jailed for three months on Monday for defamation, according to his defense team.
Said Ait Mahdi, who leads a group for victims of the El Haouz earthquake and has been in detention since December 23, was tried for “defamation, insult and the publication of false allegations aimed at infringing on privacy.”
Three other accused, also members of the group, were charged with “insulting public officials.”
“The Court of First Instance of Marrakech condemned Said Ait Mahdi to three months in prison and acquitted three others,” one of their lawyers, Mohamed Nouini, told AFP.
Ait Mahdi was also ordered to pay 10,000 dirhams ($1,000) in damages to each of the civil parties, Nouini said, adding that he would appeal the verdict.
According to the lawyer, the case was based on “complaints from local officials following social media posts they considered offensive.”
El Haouz province, to the south of Marrakech, was one of the areas hit hardest by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the region in September 2023, killing close to 3,000 people and wounding 5,600.
It also destroyed around 60,000 homes in the High Atlas mountains, forcing many families to live in tents through the winter.
Ait Mahdi’s group has campaigned for faster reconstruction and more aid to those affected.
The Moroccan authorities said in December they had issued 57,000 reconstruction permits and that more than 35,000 homes had been or were in the process of being rebuilt.
The authorities have put in place an $11 billion, five-year reconstruction and development plan for the six provinces hit by the disaster.
