Pirate killed as NATO’s Anti-piracy flagship returns fire off Somalia

According to Commodore Ben Bekkering, commander of the NATO Task Force, the pirates of late used larger dhows as mother ships; “we routinely check them”.  When Dutch warship HNMLS Rotterdam was on such routine surveillance, it came under sustained fire both from ashore and from the dhow itself. Rotterdam returned fire following the rules of engagement. In the action, one crew member was killed and 25 people were rescued by Rotterdam from the water and transferred to the NATO flagship where those who needed medical care were attended to. After praising the “calm professionalism” of the Rotterdam crew, he said this incident made two things clear. “Firstly, it is obvious that the scourge of piracy has not gone away, and we need to maintain our vigilance. Secondly, the risks to the pirates themselves are becoming much greater, and while we regret any loss of life, we will deal with any threat we encounter in a firm, robust, but always proportionate, manner”.

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