BRUSSELS (AFP)--North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer praised the U.K.'s Royal Navy Thursday for its actions during a patrol in the Gulf of Aden which resulted in two suspected Somali pirates being killed.
The shooting happened during a routine NATO-led patrol in the Gulf of Aden Tuesday when HMS Cumberland and Russian frigate Neustrashimy spotted a dhow which had been identified in an attempt to hijack a Danish vessel, the MV Powerful, earlier in the day.
"I commend the crew of the Cumberland for the action they have taken while defending a Danish ship against pirates," Scheffer said, in a message read by one of his staff.
"They carried out their mission with courage and professionalism. This incident demonstrates NATO's determination to play its part in deterring piracy off the Somali coast, as the United Nations has asked us to do," he said.
The U.K.'s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that its ship had used "non-forcible methods" in an attempt to stop the dhow, and boats were then launched to circle and intercept the vessel.
"These boats were fired at from the dhow and the crews returned fire in self-defense," it said. "Two foreign nationals, believed to be Somali pirates, were shot and killed in self-defense."
A Yemeni man was also found injured and later died, although the MoD said it was unclear whether he had sustained his injuries in the firefight "or in a previous incident involving the pirates."
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 13, 2008 10:38 ET (15:38 GMT)

Publié le 13 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones