It is not a good time to be a hostage taker. The U.S> Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including an American during a nighttime raid on Somalia.

Jessica Buchanan, 32, of America and 60-year-old Dane Poul Thistden were working with a relief organization when they were kidnapped in Somalia way back in October. The two workers were then held by “common criminals” with no known ties to any criminal groups in the area.

Navy SEALs arrived in two helicopters during the raid and as they approached the compound gunshots were exchanged and several of the hostage takers were killed.

Just as quickly as they arrived the SEALs loaded Buchanan and Thisted into helicopters and transported them to safety. Both hostages showed no signed of injury and are said to have been in relatively good condition.

At the time of their Oct. 25 kidnapping a self-proclaimed Somali pirate said the kidnapping was in response to Western nations’s efforts to stop the seizure of ships off the coast.

The first sign of a successful rescue attempt occurred on Tuesday night when President Obama entered the House of chambers for his State of the Union address and pointed at Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and said “Leion. Good job tonight. Good job tonight.”

The Navy SEALs were also involved in a successful rescue attempt that saved the lives of a group of Iranian fisherman two weeks ago. The group continues to attack and kill Somali pirates and other hostage takers who attempt to hold lives in the balance in exchange for ransom money.

It’s definitely not a good time to be a Somali pirate.

Do you think the US Navy SEALs are doing a good job against Somali pirate hostage takers?

Navy SEALs Rescue American Hostage In Somalia During Nighttime Raid is a post from: The Inquisitr

The last time I won a radio contest I was given tickets to some crappy concert nobody wanted to go and see however if I had been a child in Somali I could have potentially walked away with an AK-47 assault rifle.

A Somali radio station run by extremist group al-Shabab held a contest this weekend for children aged 10-17, each child was quizzed on Islam and al-Shabab and the winner and runner-up walked away with a treasure trove of money, al-Shabab books and the customary jewelry of choice in Somali an AK-47 to dangle from their necks.

Third place I have to admit got the shaft, they only received two live hand grenades.

Apparently the contest was a big deal with an entire awards ceremony taking place outside of Mogadishu.

In true Islamic extremist fervor Sheik Muktar Robow Abu Monsur of the al-Shabab sheiks lamented:

“Children should use one hand for education and the other for a gun to defend Islam.”

Al-Shabab is an offshoot of al-Qaeda and controls much of Somalia since the region has no central government.

Don’t be surprised if his “education” comment isn’t taken seriously, al-Qaeda members and regions they occupy are typically full of illiterate people who learn to fire a gun before they ever open a book while people in Somalia will never see the inside of a book.

So there you have it Somali radio stations are hard at work training the next group of Somali pirates and al-Qaeda operatives who will take over ships of innocent freight workers.

What do you think about the contest? Makes that last prize you won from a local radio station seem a bit lame does it.

Win A Children’s Radio Contest Get An AK-47, Thanks Somalia is a post from: The Inquisitr

Who would have thought. I mean really we’re talking about pirates here – of the Somalia kind – and one would think that this is the last place that you would some kind of business model but apparently they do indeed have one. At least according to the newest Security Council to Somalia report (link leads to PDF report) these Somali pirates operate on a very corporate level when it comes to handing out the spoils of their piracy.

The section of the much larger report that deal with this is titled Annex III – Piracy business model and starts out with this

The typical piracy ‘business model’ has evolved since the Monitoring Group’s

December 2008 report (S/2008/769). The success and expansion of pirate militias

has necessitated new organizational arrangements and practices. Although

leadership of pirate networks remains anchored in Puntland and central Somalia,

participation in maritime militias and investment in pirate operations is open to a

broad cross-section of Somali society. The refined business model guarantees every

participant in the operation, if successful, a well-defined percentage or share of the

ransom money.

The typical piracy ‘business model’ has evolved since the Monitoring Group’s December 2008 report (S/2008/769). The success and expansion of pirate militias has necessitated new organizational arrangements and practices. Although leadership of pirate networks remains anchored in Puntland and central Somalia, participation in maritime militias and investment in pirate operations is open to a broad cross-section of Somali society. The refined business model guarantees every participant in the operation, if successful, a well-defined percentage or share of the ransom money.

Like every good corporate entity payments are based on shares owned as well as fixed costs:

To be eligible for employment as a pirate, a volunteer should already possess a firearm for use in the operation. For this ‘contribution’, he receives a ‘class A’ share of any profit. Pirates who provide a skiff or a heavier firearm, like an RPG or a general purpose machine gun, may be entitled to an additional A-share. The first pirate to board a vessel may also be entitled to an extra A-share.

At least 12 other volunteers are recruited as militiamen to provide protection on land if a ship is hijacked, In addition, each member of the pirate team may bring a partner or relative to be part of this land-based force. Militiamen must possess their own weapon, and receive a ‘class B’ share — usually a fixed amount equivalent to approximately US$15,000.

After a successful job pay-outs went down like this

When ransom is received, fixed costs are the first to be paid out. These are typically:

• Reimbursement of supplier(s)

• Financier(s) and/or investor(s): 30% of the ransom

• Local elders: 5 to 10 %of the ransom (anchoring rights)

• Class B shares (approx. $15,000 each): militiamen, interpreters etc.

The remaining sum — the profit — is divided between class-A shareholders.

hat tip to BoingBoing

Pirates (not the software kind) have something Twitter doesn’t – a business model is a post from: The Inquisitr

The war on Somali Pirates celebrated its first victory last week when news went around the world that the Indian Navy had managed to sink “the mother pirateship” off Somalia. It was a good line, but it turns out the Indian Navy didn’t even come close.

What the Indian Navy sunk was a Thai fishing trawler that had been hijacked by pirates. Oh, and there was at least one innocent crew member on board the boat as well. Fourteen other crew are “missing.”

A Cambodian sailor was rescued four days later by passing fishermen and now recuperating in a hospital in Yemen confirmed the story.

Failing to accept responsibility, an Indian Navy spokesman claimed they were fired upon by the ship and reacted to that, after all its really difficult to spot the difference between a fishing boat and “pirate mothership.”

Ship loads of fail in this case, well one ship load of fail anyway.

Whoops: turns out the Indian Navy didn’t sink a Pirate Ship last week, they sunk a hijacked vessel instead is a post from: The Inquisitr

Somali pirates are having more fun than Captain Jack Sparrow this week, with news in that more ships have been taken hostage.

Depending on which report you read, the latest haul is either a Greek bulk carrier or a Thai fishing boat, but definitely both in short succession. The latest hijackings follow on from the incredible seizure of the Saudi super-tanker the Sirius Star, the worlds largest ship that was carrying $US100 million worth of crude oil, or roughly one quarter of the entire daily output of oil from Saudi Arabia.

Somali pirates have attacked 95 ships this year, and hijacked 39. 17 vessels remain under pirate control, along with 300 crew.

The surprising aspect of the growing number of hijackings is that there is an international defense task force in the region that is suppose to be defending shipping. Countries with naval assets in the area to prevent piracy include Canada, The Netherlands, Italy, India, Russia, Germany, Spain, Denmark Greece and Malaysia. The United States presence includes the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ramage and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Bunker Hill.

Somali Pirates 39: International Naval Defense Taskforce 0.

UPDATE: 3 hours after writing this post, ANOTHER ship has been captured, this time a Hong Kong cargo ship loaded with wheat bound for Iran. Details here.

Here’s a report from Reuters on the latest hijack:

Somali Pirates 39: International Naval Defense Taskforce 0 is a post from: The Inquisitr