Brussels, 13/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - This year, “we have contained” the problem of piracy, thanks to a more intelligent alignment of our resources, closer cooperation with NATO and the CTF (anti-piracy coalition) and better coordination with the actors on the ground, said General Buster Howes, commandant of the EU operation NAVFOR Atalanta (anti-piracy naval force of the EU off the coast of Somalia).
At a meeting with a group of European journalists on 9 December, he also stressed the potential of greater commitment for the force in terms of dissuasive actions. Activities of this kind must be carried out “intelligently”, because “potentially, there is an impact on hostages”, he warned. However, “if you decide to use snipers based at sea (…) to shoot out the engines of the skiffs” used by the attackers and at the same time “you act preventatively as regards their access to new engines”, there could be some room for manoeuvre, he said. EU NAVFOR has already carried out a series of actions, “quite successfully”, to try to contain pirates closer to the coastline, the commandant explained. “One of the things we did during monsoon season (when the pirates have a limited capacity to operate on the high seas) was to gather information up and down the coast”, so that we could “find out where the boats were and where the pirates' camps were”. Fourteen camps were identified. The General also acknowledged that “considerable improvements have been made” since the mission was launched in December 2008. So far, EU NAVFOR has escorted 90 convoys of the World Food Programme (WFP), securing the provision of around 41,000 cubic metres for the 1.2 million Somalis. It has also escorted 75 boats belonging to the mission of the African Union in Somalia (AMISOM). (A.By./transl.fl)