NATO eyes new anti-piracy operation off Somalia
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Feb 19, IRNA - NATO Spokesman James Appathurai said the western military pact is to launch a new anti-piracy naval mission off the coast of Somalia next spring, news reports said Thursday.
"You can expect to see another NATO naval operation off the coast of Somalia next spring in the general effort to combat piracy," he said following an agreement at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Polish city of Krakow.
Further details of the new counter-piracy mission have yet to be worked out, he added.
NATO ceased its three-month anti-piracy mission in December.
The NATO operation was taken over by a European Union naval task force, code-named Atalanta in mid-December.
Over a hundred vessels were attacked by pirates operating off the shores of Somalia last year, including a Saudi oil super-tanker which was hijacked in November with oil worth a hundred million US dollars.
Operation Atalanta's goal is also "to escort the World Food Programme's humanitarian convoys to Somalia and contribute to the improvement of maritime security off the coast as part of European Union's overall action to stabilize Somalia," according to the European Union.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
