French helicopters fire at Somali pirates -witnesses

rock45

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French helicopters fire at Somali pirates -witnesses


BOSASSO, Somalia, April 11 (Reuters) - French military helicopters on Friday fired rockets at pirates who had released hostages they had been holding on a captured luxury yacht off the coast of Somalia, witnesses said.
French officials confirmed that troops had fired on a vehicle with pirates on board, but they said they had not shot at people, had not fired any missiles and had not killed anyone.
Local witnesses said an unknown number of people were killed by the rocket fire, which also destroyed three vehicles.
"I could see clouds of smoke as six helicopters were bombing the pirates. The pirates were also firing anti-aircraft machine guns in reaction. I cannot tell the exact casualties," witness Mohamed Ibrahim told Reuters by radio telephone.
The district commissioner of Garaad, where the attack took place, said the helicopters landed and troops jumped out to grab members of a group of 14 pirates who had just come ashore where three pickup trucks with heavy weapons were waiting.
"Local residents came out to the see the helicopters on the ground. The helicopters took off and fired rockets on the vehicles and the residents there, killing five local people," Commissioner Abdiaziz Olu-Yusuf Mohamed told Reuters by phone.
In Paris, French officials said that the operation was conducted with minimal use of force for fear of causing collateral damage.
They said a Gazelle helicopter with a sniper on board and a Panther helicopter with three commandos on board were involved in the incident. In addition two more missile-armed Gazelle helicopters stood by in support but did not intervene.
They said the only shot fired was by the sniper to disable the engine of a vehicle containing the pirates.
"No shots were fired directly at the pirates," Jean-Louis Georgelin, chief of the armed forces general staff, told a news conference.
"The shot from the first Gazelle was enough to stop the vehicle and get out the pirates, who gave themselves up without too much difficulty," he said. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan, additional reporting by Aweys Yusuf and Abdiwahid Sheikh in Mogadishu and James Mackenzie in Paris; Editing by Giles Elgood)




Link
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL11190385.html
 
Wolf, that's the first time that I heard from Redneck about the French doing the right thing since I joined the forums in 2005. ha
 
I don't know I am torn on this one, its great they did what they did but I am disappointed they didn't blow the ship out of the water along with its pirates as well.
 
I don't know I am torn on this one, its great they did what they did but I am disappointed they didn't blow the ship out of the water along with its pirates as well.

I can think of two reasons.

1. They would have killed all the hostages.
2. $30 Million Dollar Cruise Ship at the bottom wont make the owners happy.

No, I think the French did the right thing, they got the hostages out by paying a bribe and lulled th pirates into a false sense of security. Then attacked and captured the Pirates as they tried to flee with the money.

My only question is what the f*** was the cruise ship company doing sailing so close to Somali waters. Are the that goddamn stupid???
 
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If they did fire on the pirates. Good for the French.

I'd be careful believing anything that comes out of the mouths of the local Somalie's. They aren't known for their candor.
 
Its coming out of the French Government. They have arrested 6 using Special Forces. The news reported today that they are now in Paris awaiting Trial.
 
French capture pirates

Yacht's crew released before commandos seize attackers off Somalia coast
By Angela Doland, The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 04/11/2008 09:03:48 PM PDT


PARIS - French troops captured six pirates after they released 30 hostages Friday who were aboard a tourist yacht off Somalia's coast, French officials said. French Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin said no public money was used to pay a ransom. But he hinted heavily that the boat's owners did hand over money, and that some was recovered when the pirates were caught. French troops had recovered "interesting bags," he said.
French shipping company CMA-CGM, which owns the operator of the 288-foot Le Ponant, hailed the end of the standoff but released no details about the operation.
The six captured pirates were being held on a French Navy vessel, the president's office said. They "gave themselves up without too much difficulty" and will be handed over to French judicial authorities, Georgelin said.
The pirates seemed to be Somali fishermen, and there were about a dozen altogether, he added. It was not immediately clear what had happened to the others.
France sent an elite commando force to the East African region after pirates seized the boat, Le Ponant, in the Gulf of Aden on April 4. It carried no passengers but 30 crew members, 22 of them French.
Earlier Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement thanking the French army and other agencies "that allowed a quick end" to the hostage-taking.
The hostages, including six Filipino crew members, were taken to a French military base in Djibouti and will be flown to Paris in "two to three days," according to Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos.
"They are in good physical condition. ... All of them are safe and sound," he said.
 
If they did fire on the pirates. Good for the French.

I'd be careful believing anything that comes out of the mouths of the local Somalie's. They aren't known for their candor.


What do you mean? Somalis are honest.
Back in '92 when the UN guys asked a Somali who killed all the people lying on the side of the road, the Somali guy said, "Aidid, Aidid..."
 
LOL

Have to say this is somewhat amusing. If this had been the US involved and the exact same events had happened this story would have been spun an entirely different way. Have to love the media.

On another note I am very glad the hostages are OK and the bags of crap got what they had coming.
 
The French have done good on several occations.
When they do real good it tends to not reach the media.

In this case.
UCLAT did good.
 
I guess the French are better at keeping their mouths shut than most of us.
The problem with American media is that they think nationalism is for idiots. So they'll report stuff that they know will hurt their own country and its troops.
 
The American media thinks nationalism is for idiots? Then explain the countless flags you see waving on every news program and blatant sugarcoating to make us look like liberators rather than the imperialistic invaders of a sovereign nation that we really are.

On-topic: What the hell were they thinking, releasing all the hostages with the French RIGHT THERE? You're supposed to save a few hostages and release them blindfolded once you are certain you're in a safe location the authorities don't know about.
 
ML, those flags are for their "idiot audiences" but it's not a value that they share. A LOT of stuff they say pretty much attack their own country or its own troops so they stick a flag on their program to say "hey, look, we ARE patriotic." It's just a disguise.
Basically they might spend a good fifteen minutes sh*tting over what the troops are doing in Iraq then end the section with waving American flags.
Stuff just gives me migraines.
 
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