Pirates pick wrong target

CNN:

The French Navy said they seized 11 pirates Sunday after they apparently mistook a French military vessel for a commercial ship and made a run at it.

Two pirate assault boats approached the Nivose "at great speed," Capt. Christophe Prazuck said, but a French helicopter intervened before the attackers had time to fire at the French Navy ship.

The helicopter fired warning shots, he said.

The pirates, who had a mother ship as well as the two assault boats, are being held for questioning on the Nivose, Prazuck said. The vessels were carrying AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, but the pirates did not fire, he said.

The incident took place about 1,000 km (620 miles) east of Mombasa, Kenya, at 8:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) he added.

...


This is an interesting show of recklessness, but it is not the first. They attempted to attack a US refueling tanker a few months ago and ran off when the ships crew fired on them. This suggest to me that the pirates can be defeated by an armed crew or hired security operatives like Xe.

The French appear to be the most aggressive at pursuing the pirates. It is too bad that other navies have not done as well.

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