UN Plan Slammed
A Somali insurgent group has lambasted a UN-backed anti-piracy mission off Somalias long coast, saying that foreign fleets patrolling the waters were part of the piracy menace because they protected trawlers looting Somali fish stocks, Radio Garowe reports.
The Somali Islamist political faction Hizbul Islam said the internationally backed campaign against the Somalia-based sea gangs is having a huge impact on the local fisheries sector.
The UN plan is meant to fight against Somali fishermen, and increase the political pressure in the country, said a statement from the group.
Having naval fleets in Somali waters is not the solution for the country and its people, but would instead increase the piracy menace.
Last week, Hizbul Islam rebels seized the town of coastal town of Harardheere, a notorious pirate hub in central Somalia. The pirates fled north to Hobyo as the Islamist rebels vowed to take more pirate towns along Somalias coast.
Harardhere was experiencing insecurity and that is why we captured it and implemented Sharia Law, the statement read.
Hizbul Islam is involved in a bloody conflict with the Western-backed Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which controls few blocks in the capital Mogadishu with the aid of a 5,300-strong African Union peacekeeping force.
The faction is led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an Islamist figure considered a terrorist by some Western intelligence agencies.
The piracy menace along Somalias coastline has been a thorn on the flesh for the international community after Somali pirates went on a hijacking spree for multimillion dollar ransom payments.
Some experts have argued that there are links between Somali pirates and Islamist factions who dominate the countrys south-central regions. However, the Islamists have denied such claims and the pirates have fled [to Hobyo] in the face of an Islamist onslaught.
Source:shiptalk