Not too bright Somali pirates...

Continued pirate attacks on ships off the coast of Somalia have had a big impact on food distribution, with WFP shifting over to more secure inland routes using trucks. The UN has urged naval vessels in the area to start taking a more active role in preventing incidents of piracy.

Today the U.S. Navy announced it had engaged in a short battle at sea with pirates. A guided missile cruiser and a guided missile destroyer were investigating a thirty-foot fishing vessel towing two skiffs, when they took small arms fire from the suspicious boats. (3/19/06) Somali militia involved now assert that the U.S. fired first.

Obviously these pirates hadn't been paying attention to the lesson in pirate school about not attacking a pair of armed to the teeth warships that are twenty times larger than your own vessel. The pirates sustained one fatality with several wounded. A Navy boarding party detained other crew members.

Maritime security is fairly specialized and can be very challenging in parts of the world where pirates operate. This is a good example of needing to rely on a military presence to ensure or reestablish program security.